


Paprika and Eggs

by babyblueglasses



Series: Paprika & Eggs: One Shots and Sequels [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kink Meme, Kinktober, M/M, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2020-11-10 15:10:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 42,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20853824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyblueglasses/pseuds/babyblueglasses
Summary: A collection of frostiron fics by prompts.Prompts: Shaky Hands | "I might just kiss you." | Nicknames | Threesome | Shackled | Hierophilia | Glory Hole | "Stay with Me" | Delirium | Hallucination | Numb | Nylons | Abandoned | Adrenaline | Hair Pulling | Laced Drink | First Conversation | Lokitty | Mirror Sex | Tear Stained | "It was just once and it meant nothing to me!" | "It will be fun. Trust me." | "You Look Delicious." | Memory | Doctor | Bargain | Edging | Embrace | Distance | Exposed | Paprika and Eggs





	1. Shaky Hands

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a mix of different prompts from October prompt lists, including whumptober, kinktober, etc. in no particular order. Chapters are named with the prompt. Enjoy!

“How was the battle?” 

“Fine.” 

Loki sauntered past where Tony leaned over the bar, knocking ice around in a slow circle in the amber liquid in his glass. Loki reached back and dismantled his helmet, vanishing away each piece as he walked to the window. He kept his back to Tony as he looked out over the skyline. 

This wasn’t normal post-battle behavior, not for Loki. Tony didn’t see any obvious injuries. “How’s Thor?” He pried. 

Loki huffed. “Perfectly fine,” he drawled. 

“Everybody get out ok?” 

“Everyone that mattered.” 

Tony blinked, slightly stunned. It had been a long time since Loki had been so callous. And it had been such a long time that Tony knew it was fake. He set his glass down on the bar top. “So the next time Thor asks you to help the army defend Asgard, you’ll say yes?” 

Loki folded his arms over his chest. “I very much doubt I should have a say in the matter,” Loki said, like he couldn’t care less about it. Tony couldn’t read his face. Instead he looked over the rest of Loki’s battle regalia—there were splatters of mud across his boots and one of the flaps in his cape had been split down the middle. Overall, it didn’t look bad.

Tony probably wouldn’t have known that Loki had been called upon to defend his home world unless he’d been there when Loki had been summoned. 

Tony tilted his head to the side. 

Loki had gone into battle for Asgard a few times, and he always returned with an embrace for Tony, and usually complaints about one thing or another. He wouldn’t let Tony go with him to battle, it was too dangerous for him or some nonsense, but really Tony thought it had to do with Loki’s pride. Loki wanted to defend Asgard on his own. Tony didn’t take it personally. 

“Babe,” Tony called. “Why don’t you step away from the multi-million dollar skyline and have a slightly less expensive drink with me? I’ve still got some of that ale Thor left us—”

“—I am in no mood to celebrate.” 

Tony set his jaw. He bit back _Well, you’re certainly in a **mood**._ It’d just antagonize Loki. 

Sighing, Tony came out from behind the bar and walked to stand beside Loki at the window instead. Now he could see that Loki’s face was the perfect mask of indifference, but that wasn’t Loki’s tell. His hands were. Tony glanced down.

They were trembling. 

“What happened, Lo?” 

Loki sneered. “What makes you think—” He stopped as Tony grabbed one of his hands, and folded it inside his own warm, calloused hands. 

Tony knew him. Gods, did Tony know him. Better than anyone left in the universe. Loki’s throat tightened and he looked away, out over the New York city skyline that was always changing. 

“You can tell me or I can weasel it out of you. Your choice, cherry pie.” Loki smiled a bit incredulously. They both felt his hand shake in Tony’s. 

“This was not my first battle,” Loki said. He drew in a long, slow breath. He should’ve stayed and feasted all night with the rest of the warriors. He shouldn’t have come home. No one on Asgard would’ve picked up on anything enough to ask, but of course, Tony would. And Tony was right. He’d weasel it out of Loki one way or another. “But it was the first in some time that I—came quite close to losing my life.” 

Tony stiffened. 

“I’m alright,” Loki reassured him. “I’m alright, Tony, it’s just—” He looked into Tony’s soft brown eyes. No one in the entire universe looked at him the way Tony did. They never had. 

And Tony had confided in him, more than once, that few in his life had loved and stayed with him the way that Loki had. 

He couldn’t leave Tony alone in the universe. 

“I—” Loki started delicately. “Came to imagine that death may have taken me from you.” 

Tony wrapped his arms around Loki, swaying with him a bit. After a moment, Tony spoke. “A near death experience’ll shake anyone up, Lo.” 

Loki buried his nose in Tony’s hair. He let his eyes fall shut. 

“I’m gonna tell Thor that you’re not allowed to bunk over anymore, ok?” 

“Tony, I’m fine—”

“—I didn’t drink magic apple juice two hundred years ago just for you to duck out on me early. I’m telling Thor he’s got to do a better job looking out for you—”

“—Tony,” Loki complained. Tony laughed, stepping back. 

“Seriously though, if you want me to suit up and come next time, you know I’m game.” 

Loki smiled gently back at him. “I know.” His hands hadn’t stopped shaking. He didn’t think they would for some time. “Would you care to eat?” 

“Yeah. I’ve been wanting to check out that new Italian place up the street. Let’s walk,” Tony declared, turning towards the door. 

“That place has been there for ten years,” Loki reminded him. 

“Like I said, new.” Tony grinned. “Now are you coming or what?” 

Loki nodded, shifting into a casual guise so that he could slide his hands into his pockets.


	2. “I might just kiss you.”

Usually when Loki went on a heist, he didn’t have tag alongs. It was just that Thor and a few of his friends had been involved in this one, and when they’d taken off running, somehow Loki had gotten stuck with Anthony. They’d stolen a ship and naturally, crashed it once they were outside the city. 

Loki had thrown open the control panel, but he couldn’t find a way to fix it.

Anthony wasn’t even trying to help. 

Anthony leaned in front of his face, smiling. “You know,” Tony preened. “You could ask me nicely to fix it.” He leaned away from Loki’s face only to return a moment later. “I could, you know. If you asked me nicely.” 

“You had better stop doing that,” Loki warned him as Anthony obnoxiously swooped in front of his face again. 

“Or what?” Anthony asked, daring and enviably care-free. 

Loki’s stern gaze flicked sharply towards him. “Or I might just kiss you.” 

Tony’s lips parted with soft, unspoken surprise. Loki just turned away as though nothing had been said. “Now figure out how to fix this ship and stop dicking around.” Loki stepped away from the controls, leaving Tony to it.

Tony’s hands hovered over the controls for a moment, like he would fix them as instructed. “Prince Loki?” 

“Oh, now you’re going to use a respectful form of address?” The other Aesir rarely addressed his brother properly either. Anthony didn’t seem to sense the need for it.

“Were you serious?” 

“About fixing the ship?” Loki threw him an unimpressed stare. “Deadly serious.” 

“No. About—about that. About kissing me.” 

Loki huffed. He wouldn’t tell Anthony that the fancy to do that had struck him. The last thing he needed was to give Thor’s friends another thing to goad him over. 

Anthony didn’t move. “Why?” Loki finally asked, picking at his nails. 

“Because—” Anthony took a step closer. “I might just kiss you.” 

Loki broke into a defensive, caustic grin. “Would you?” He couldn’t look at Anthony and give the desire away. He hated that he wanted one of Thor’s friends. 

“Yes.” Anthony didn’t miss the faint blush on his prince’s cheeks. Suddenly Loki’s coldness towards him took on a whole new understanding. Maybe Anthony’s infatuation wasn’t one sided. Loki drew a little more in on himself as Anthony took a step closer. “I’ll tell you what,” he dared. “For the price of one kiss, I’ll fix the ship.” 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “I’ll remind you that you will also be in trouble for larceny should they catch us, and we are only wasting time.” 

“And I’ll remind you that if we get caught, you will be in worlds more trouble with the AllFather than I.” 

Loki rolled his eyes. They both knew Anthony was right. His father would only care that his mischief-loving son had committed the crime. Anthony would be an afterthought. 

Anthony was hopeful as he watched Loki consider it. He’d run after Loki on purpose when their group had split in different directions. He’d also crashed the ship on purpose, not that he’d ever tell Loki. He’d just wanted to steal a few hours with the prince. Was that so wrong?

“Alright,” Loki said. “I’ve considered your bargain and will accept, if only because we are short on time.” 

Tony sauntered forward. “I expect payment first.” 

“Fine.” 

Loki leaned down just as Anthony surged up on his toes, grasping a handful of Loki’s hair as he slotted their lips together, hungry at first and then surprisingly tender. Loki breathed out a surprised moan as Anthony’s tongue slipped past his lips. Anthony took as much as he dared, panting when he pulled away. 

Loki watched him with bewildered eyes and longing in his posture. “There’s more where that came from,” Anthony promised. “If you would like to reward me for a job well done afterwards, your grace.” 

Loki grinned at Anthony’s cheek. “Why, I would almost think you wished for more.” 

Anthony winked at him and then turned to the control panel. In a moment, they were up and flying again. 

And if the ship somehow stranded them deep in Asgard’s forest once more so that Anthony could bargain for a few more kisses before starting the ship again? Well, that could only be blamed on a faulty ship, couldn’t it? 

And if Loki started to offer more kisses in exchange for small favors once they were back on Asgard, well, that was perfectly sensible, wasn’t it?


	3. Nicknames

“Keep your cold feet off of me, Rudolph,” Tony mumbled, rolling over in the sheets. They rumpled as Loki shifted. Tony ignored it, drifting off to sleep again, when Loki’s voice pulled at him to wake. 

“Rudolph,” Loki repeated. 

Tony debated ignoring it. The pillow was so soft beneath his head, and he was so blissfully comfortable. He forgot trying to stay awake, starting to drift off. 

“So many nicknames for me,” Loki mused, his voice a low murmur. Tony sort of heard him. Loki’s hand set on his arm, drawing Tony out of sleep again. “Do you not wish that I had one for you?” 

“You do,” Tony slurred. “It’s Stark.” 

“I do not think that counts.” 

Fuck it. Loki was obviously set on having a conversation. Tony rolled towards Loki, onto his side. He forced one eye to open. 

Loki didn’t look like he’d fallen asleep at all. There was a bruise forming from a bite on his shoulder where Tony’d gotten a little too carried away. His hair was messy and starting to curl. “Babe. Please go to sleep.” 

Loki shuffled closer to Tony until they were only a few inches apart, Loki’s breath falling against Tony’s lips. “You have dozens of nicknames for me,” Loki said. His brow wrinkled. “And yet I am not sure what to call you.” 

“Loki,” Tony complained. He squeezed his eyes shut. “Sleep.” 

“Tony,” Loki said quietly. He trailed his fingers along Tony’s neck before cupping it at the back in a protective way. “Every one I can think of sounds foolish to my ears.” Tony didn’t open his eyes, but it didn’t deter Loki. “My star,” Loki said gently, the word uncertain and self-conscious on his tongue. “Darling. Babe,” he tried more common ones. They weren’t special enough. 

Tony sighed. “If it really means that much to you Lo, you can start calling me hot stuff.” 

Loki wrinkled his nose. “Hot stuff? Tony, it’s so crass—”

Tony shut him up with a kiss, enveloping Loki in his arms and holding on tight. “Good night, babe.” He buried his face in Loki’s chest. 

Loki was blissfully quiet for a moment, enough that Tony could start to drift off.

“Good night, elskan mín,” Loki answered warmly. 

Tony’s last thought as he fell asleep was that he’d have to ask Jarvis to Google that in the morning.


	4. Threesome

When Tony had proposed the idea, he’d gotten a lot less of a reaction from Loki than he’d expected. “Okay,” Tony had said, a little surprised. Loki hadn’t even asked questions. “Well. Do you have anyone you really want it to be with?” 

Loki carelessly tossed his fork into the kitchen sink, his Asgardian tunic swaying as he walked. “I get to choose?” He picked at a nail, not yet leaving the room, but close. “You don’t already have someone in mind?” 

“Well I have candidates,” Tony confessed. “But I’m not set on anyone.” 

Loki glanced towards the couch in the other room like Tony hadn’t just asked him to ok a threesome and his biggest concern was catching his TV show. “Can I introduce you to who I would like it to be, then?” 

Suddenly, unexpectedly, Tony felt a pang of jealousy. Loki had someone in mind already? Someone Tony’d never met? “Sure.” 

“I’ll set up a time for coffee with them for later this week.” With that, Loki simply walked into the other room and turned on the TV. 

Tony scratched at his beard. Loki almost seemed bored by the idea. Had he had Loki figured out all wrong this entire time? Did Loki have the same kind of casual attitude towards sex that Tony did? 

And who the hell did he pick out so quickly? 

Tony wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. A guy, probably. Maybe some beefy Asgardian dude that was one of Thor’s friends that Loki had screwed around with when he was young. Tony had tried to figure it out and guess, but none of his scenarios had been anything remotely like this. 

Sitting between them at the lunch table was a petite woman with long black hair and green eyes. Her name was Ella. 

Tony cleared his throat. “Alright,” he said. “I’m just gonna say it. Are you two sure you’re not related? You look like you should be his sister.” 

The woman balked in surprise, but Loki was expressionless. “Tony,” Loki said. “Simply because we have some similarities does not mean we’re related.” 

Tony looked between them. True, the woman only came up to the top of Tony’s arc reactor, and she had soft features in contrast to Loki’s sharp ones, but the black hair and green eyes thing was uncanny. She looked like Loki. If Loki had huge boobs and wore low cut sweaters. Which meant maybe Loki had a weird kink thing about doing himself. Fine, whatever. Tony smiled at the woman. “I apologize.” 

“Apology accepted.”

Tony glanced back at Loki. 

Was the god sure that they weren’t related? 

The rest of the meeting was pretty uneventful. Tony spent most of it silently studying the woman from the corner of his eye. She barely touched her coffee. She didn’t rush to answer, choosing her words carefully. Her humor matched Loki’s. She seemed to enjoy teasing Tony too, and Loki and she ganged up on him more than once in the conversation. 

When they waved goodbye, Loki waited for a moment before asking, “So?” 

Tony wasn’t going to say no. If there was one thing that he’d worked out during the coffee, it was that Ella was hot. And maybe her looking kind of like Loki did something for him, in a weird way. 

He also trying incredibly hard not to make fun of Loki for picking her. “How long have you known her?” 

Loki shrugged. “A long time. She’s not Midgardian, Tony.” 

“And have you slept with her before?” 

The sly, almost embarrassed expression on Loki’s face was an answer, even when he diverted to, “You’re avoiding my question.” 

“I’m getting some facts straight first.” 

Loki sighed. “Yes, but it’s never been anything more than a fling.” 

So Loki was playing it safe, choosing someone he knew. That made a hell of a lot more sense to Tony. “Ok,” Tony said, openly more receptive now. “How’d you two meet?” 

“We met when I was studying magic.” Loki brushed his hair back. “If you don’t like her, I’m sure I can find someone else—”

“—No. No, I think she’s good.” Tony held up his hands. A small smile graced Loki’s lips. “As long as she’s good with it. If I didn’t scare her off or anything.” 

“I’m certain you did not,” Loki reassured him. Tony nodded, excited. 

Ella was incredibly distracting in the best way, so much so that Tony kept tugging at Loki and insisting that he join in more. He’d wanted a _three_some. Not just to sleep with someone else. 

They wound up with her sandwiched between them. Tony was buried deep inside her as he grasped her breast with one hand and her hair in the other, her returning kisses just as fiercely until her moans became cries as Loki entered her from behind. 

They were nothing but a tangled mess of limbs, the air heavy with the smell of sex. Tony loved the sound of Loki’s voice coming apart. He loved the pressure of feeling Loki’s cock drag on the other side of the warm, wet heat around him. He loved the way Ella’s nails trailed along his back as she begged for more. 

Tony was so close, and he didn’t want it to stop. He sucked kisses along Ella’s skin. For a moment, he was able to steal a kiss from Loki over her shoulder before they all moaned, and Tony grasped Ella’s hip, thrusting in, leaning in for another kiss, when he fell forward and into Loki. 

Tony blinked. He looked around the room, as if he hadn’t been inside of Ella a second before, then at Loki. 

Loki stared back at him, mortified. 

And it clicked. 

“A clone,” Tony muttered. “A clone—I didn’t know you could fucking make one that didn’t look exactly like you—”

“—I didn’t think I would lose my grip. I thought the magic would last, but she came and—”

Tony pulled away, rendering Loki speechless. Tony’s head was spinning. His body was aching to finish, but his mind was fighting the fog. “Why’d you lie?” Tony sat back on the bed. “You could’ve told me no. I was pretty clear about that.” 

Loki bit his bottom lip, looking away. 

Tony wiped some of the sweat away from his brow. Loki quickly blinked, wringing his hands together. “Please don’t be upset,” he quietly pleaded.

“I’m not upset, I’m mad.” 

“I see no difference,” Loki answered hotly. 

“I'm mad because you lied,” Tony said. He covered himself with the bedsheet. “Now I feel like shit. Like I pressured you into it, but you acted like it was fine.” 

“Because I—” Loki blinked. “I wanted to be fine.” He bit his lip again, wiggling it against his teeth. “You were excited at the idea and I wanted to grant you your wish, but I am also not so—” Loki wouldn’t glance at his tired boyfriend. “Others do not find me as desirable as they do you, Tony. I have never had so many opportunities as you, and as such, I am less—at ease than you.” 

“I know you’re less comfortable with casual stuff. I remember how we got together,” Tony said. “But I thought a threesome could still be fun for you because I’d still be there. Now I feel like an asshole,” Tony said. 

“I wanted to be as casual about it as you were,” Loki said so quietly. 

Tony rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to be.” 

Loki stared at the bed for a moment, still worrying his lip. “Who did you want it to be with? When you suggested. You had—candidates.” 

Tony felt a blush on his cheeks. He was mad at himself for it, but he still felt it. “Steve,” Tony admitted. Loki hissed. “Or Bruce maybe,” Tony hurried to add. 

“You have always had a thing for Steve,” Loki accused, throwing his legs over the side of the bed as if to stand up. 

“Don’t act like this was all some ruse for me to sleep with Steve,” Tony shot back. “It was supposed to be fun. It _was_ fun, until I found out you lied. And I didn’t give you shit about Ella when you said you'd both already slept together, so don’t give me it about Steve.” 

Loki stood, and Tony hated the way his eyes still traced the curve of the god’s bare ass, admiring it. “Fine. I am going to bathe.” Tony watched him disappear into the bathroom, seething and hurt. 

Tony had calmed down by the time that Loki left the bathroom. It seemed that Loki had too. He came into the kitchen with wet hair and quietly made tea as Tony sat at the table, designing on his tablet. 

“I apologize for lying,” Loki said. “And for Ella.” 

Tony’s lips drew up to one side in a wry smile. “Hey. Nice to know we always have a threesome on call, Mr. Wizard.” 

Tony’s humor was his olive branch, and Loki nodded. This was how they made up. They were alright. “So do you want to try again with someone real this time?” 

Loki glanced up. It felt like a test. It was a test. “No.” 

“Good,” Tony immediately answered. Loki glared at him for the test. “Hey,” Tony said. “It’s fine. It’s not like it’s something we have to be cool with, and honestly, I’m fine with that. Maybe it’s a good thing Ella wasn’t real. I might’ve felt like she was getting between us.” Tony laughed at himself. “Not that way,” he clarified.

“I much prefer her to the captain,” Loki said. There was just enough humor in his eyes that Tony knew they were alright. 

“I’m crossing threesome off our kink list,” Tony decided. 

Loki stirred honey into his tea. “How would you feel about a clone?” 

“Of you? Not Ella?” 

Loki shot him a look like he was being stupid on purpose. 

“Into it,” Tony said. “I think.” 

“Place an asterisk beside threesome then.” 

“Done.” 

Tony went back to his tablet, and Loki sipped his tea, leaving to watch television in the living room.


	5. Shackled

The last time that Tony had been kidnapped - yes, he knew how awful it was that he could say that - he’d escaped his captors. It was kind of what Tony did. He got kidnapped. He escaped his kidnappers. Not this time. 

This time, Tony’s ankles and wrists had been chained before he’d been unceremoniously dumped in the back of a cave as his captors had dinner and drank. 

Tony didn’t know a whole lot about the tiny bands of thieves that hid in Asgardian forests. He knew there was practically nothing they knew about him, except that they’d stolen him from Thor’s hunting party while everyone had been bathing in the river. He figured he was being held for ransom. 

He just hoped they’d feed him and continue to leave him alone as they had. He doubted they were going to be good at taking care of a mortal. 

Tony hunched against the wall of the cave, his knees pulled up against his chest. He hoped that Thor and the others noticed he was gone and didn’t just assume that he’d run off with Loki. Again. 

He wished that he’d forced Loki to come along on the trip. Loki would’ve noticed that he was gone. Thor would, but Thor could just as easily assume that Loki came and spirited Tony away with him. And Tony’d thought he was doing something nice, going along with Thor. He was getting Thor and Thor’s friends out of Loki’s hair as Loki worked on some huge magic project. 

Tony just wished that Loki was here. Loki was all that Tony could think about as he sat there, watching the flames at the mouth of the cave cast shadows as his captors laughed and played cards with one another. 

Tony woke to the sounds of metal clashing. He startled. Heart pounding, Tony pushed himself back up against the wall, hoping not to be seen. Then, in the dim light of the cave, he made out the glorious outline of his lover’s helmet against the starry light of dawn. 

Loki took out the thieves like they were nothing, his cape flying as he spun with his spear, knocking out the group’s leader. Others seemed to fall of their own accord, but Tony knew they were well placed daggers. “Loki,” Tony cried out. “Loki! I’m back here!” 

The cave filled with green orbs of light. For a moment, Tony caught a glimpse of Loki’s expression as it had been. His eyes were wild, his chest heaving as he scanned the cave, until the moment he spotted Tony and softened, approaching Tony with quick strides and cupping Tony’s jaw with a hand so gentle Tony wanted to cry. “Are you alright?” Loki asked, the shackles on Tony’s limbs turning to sand. 

“Yes,” Tony said, throwing his arms open. Loki met him in the middle, lifting Tony from the ground and holding him tight to his chest. 

They held each other until they caught their breath. 

“Lo,” Tony said, pushing up onto his toes to kiss him. 

When Loki drew back from the kiss, he kept an arm around Tony’s back, holding him close. “How did you find me?” Tony asked. 

“The hunting party arrived at the palace late in the night. Fandral had injured his ankle and they’d decided to return. I had been returning from the library and happened to see Fandral and Hogun going to the infirmary. I went to our room, expecting to see you. When you were not, I assumed you were still with Thor. That perhaps you’d gone to eat or such. I waited, and when I felt it had been too long, I found Thor and asked where you were. He thought I’d taken you.” 

“I mean, we’ve done that before, running off.” Tony allowed. “I guess that bit us in the ass this time.” 

Loki managed a smile. “My magic could lead me to you faster than they could organize a search party. I vanished the moment I realized what had happened.” 

“I’m so fucking glad you’re here,” Tony said. He buried himself against Loki’s chest. “Thank you.” 

“No need to,” Loki muttered.

It was quiet in the cave, then. Loki’s battle armor smelled of sweat and blood, but it didn’t bother Tony. “Shall we go home?” Loki asked. 

“Yeah,” Tony looked up, then broke into a smile. 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “What amuses you so?” 

“Nothing. Just, your helmet. You’re really hot in battle, rescuing me like this.” 

Loki’s ears burned. He’d never been complimented on his warrior regalia, much less told he was found attractive because of it. The complement was the ultimate Asgardian achievement, and Loki found he wasn’t immune to it. 

“Let’s go before Thor starts shooting lightning everywhere looking for us,” Tony said, noticing how affected Loki was. He was going to brag to everyone about the rescue, just to see that look on Loki’s face. 

“Let’s,” Loki agreed. Perhaps he would wear his helmet more often.


	6. Hierophilia

Loki had told Tony early, at the beginning of their relationship, that he was not the Norse god of mischief that Tony kept alluding to, despite any similarities. 

Tony had nodded and said okay. 

And what Loki took to mean as _got it, I understand you’re not the same_, Tony meant as _got it, I’ll keep your secret, you very obvious Norse god of mischief by the same name_. 

And they moved on. 

“Look,” Tony said. “You’re the one that can teleport, so please run home and grab my sweatshirt, ok? Pretty please?” Tony batted his eyelashes, and it didn’t matter that it was done sarcastically. He’d always had gorgeous, expressive brown eyes that made Loki weak at the knees. 

Loki huffed. “Why must it be that one?” Tony had known they were going to an outdoor concert because it had been his idea. He should’ve brought a sweatshirt. 

“Because I like that one,” Tony argued. 

Loki knew Tony was only doing it because he wanted Loki’s attention. Tony liked Loki’s attention like that, whether he admitted it or not. “Where is it?” Loki relented.

“In my closet, next to the drawers. It should be up on a hanger. It’s red—”

“—I know what it looks like,” Loki answered. He looked at Tony, his gaze lingering for a moment with a mixture of exasperation and fondness before he disappeared. 

Loki appeared in the middle of Tony’s spacious walk in closet. He went to the corner where the drawers were and saw the red sleeve sticking out on the rack of clothing. As he walked to grab it, he felt his magic ping. Loki paused. 

He glanced around the closet. He couldn’t remember leaving anything magical there. But something magical was there. Perhaps he’d forgotten something? Curious, Loki followed the sensation to the second to last drawer from the bottom. 

The sensation got stronger as he pulled the drawer out towards him, but all he could see were Tony’s socks. Loki brushed his hand over them and felt the sensation even stronger. It was an odd kind of magic. One that wasn’t obviously from a source he recognized. 

Loki grabbed a handful of socks and tossed them onto the floor. In the center of the drawer was a rectangular box, the size of a book. Loki opened it.

There was a pendant there. Loki picked it up and held it to the light. 

At first glance, there was nothing outside the ordinary about it. The metal was a worn gold with flecks of black on it. It was a pattern of knots designed to look like a snake, or perhaps a dragon. Loki thought it was rather cheap, but as he studied it, he knew it was what his magic had sensed. 

The object had been worshipped, somehow. 

It wasn’t exactly odd to find such a thing on Asgard, but on Midgard, it was strange. Loki ignored the fact that it had obviously been meant to be hidden in the drawer and took it along with the sweatshirt to return back to Tony.

“I got you—” Tony stopped mid-sentence, his surprise gift of a glass of wine completely forgotten. “Where did you find that?” Tony demanded. 

“In your closet,” Loki said, dangling the pendant by its necklace and giving it an odd look. He handed Tony his sweatshirt. “Where did it come from?”

Tony traded Loki the glass of wine for the sweatshirt simply because Loki was holding it out for him to take.

“Loki,” Tony warned. 

Loki studied Tony for a moment and then broke into a sly smile. “What are you hiding, Tony?” 

“As if you don’t know what that is.” 

“I don’t.” 

“Loki.” Tony twisted on the picnic blanket, oblivious to the music on stage. He set down his wine and tugged the sweatshirt on. “Don’t make me say it.” 

Loki sipped his own wine. “It has magic to it.” He raised an eyebrow. “How’d you come to obtain it?” 

“Of course it has magic,” Tony complained. 

Loki leaned in. “Tell me what it is, Tony.” 

Tony squinted at him. “You can’t tell what it is?” In reply, Loki blinked painfully slow to make his point. Tony snatched it out of his hand. “You said things that are worshipped have magic.” Tony tucked it in his sweatshirt pocket and faced the stage at the center of the park where the band was playing. 

“Worshipped.” Loki pursed his lips. “Is that your pendant?” Tony drank his wine, ignoring him. “Someone else’s, then?” 

“Mine.” 

“I thought you were not a religious man.” 

Tony stared at him with slightly wide, pained eyes, even as anger colored his expression. “I am when it comes to you.” He tore away from Loki’s befuddled look and buried his face in his wine glass instead. 

“Explain,” Loki commanded. 

Tony set his wine glass down, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked every bit like he was pouting. 

“Tony, stop being so coy and tell me exactly what that necklace is.” 

“It’s a—you’re gone a lot. You know?” 

“I don’t see what that—”

“—sometimes when you’re gone, I put it on and—think about you. And stuff.” Tony threw the hood up over his head. “Ok?” 

Loki stared at Tony for a moment, more determined, and reached forward to steal the pendant from Tony’s pocket. Tony fought him off but relented as one of Loki’s arms came around his middle while the other fished inside his pocket. Loki frowned at the necklace’s pattern. “Why this?” 

“Because it’s the most Loki pattern I could find.” 

“I don’t wear anything like this.” 

“Now,” Tony corrected him. Loki gave him an odd look. “There aren’t any artifacts that archaeologists can say with certainty represent you, but when I was researching I found a shop selling that and felt like it could work.” 

Loki’s eyebrows pinched together, suddenly annoyed. “I told you that was not me.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “It obviously is.” 

“It obviously is not.” Loki extended the pendant back out for Tony to take. Uncertainly, Tony reached, and when Loki didn’t pull back, Tony grabbed it and placed it in his pocket. Loki seemed annoyed. For a while they just listened to the music. “How often have you worn that pendant for it to pick up magic?” 

The question seemed rhetorical, so Tony didn’t answer. 

“Why do you not believe me when I say it is not me?” 

“Why does it bug you?” Tony shot back. 

Loki wrinkled his nose. “Because you obviously put a great deal of effort into thinking of someone else.” 

Tony glanced over. He took a breath and then set his hand on Loki’s knee. “I was thinking of you.” He rubbed his nose. “Duh, I was thinking of you. It’s pretty hard not to when I’m recalling the things we do.” 

Late, it clicked for Loki. “You wear that while you’re—”

“—yeah.” 

Loki didn’t have anything to say to that. 

“You didn’t really think I laid there thinking out long lines of prayers, did you?” Tony smiled. “Seriously. Have you met me? I’m not the kind of guy that can do that.” 

Loki combed his hair back behind his ear. “You certainly have a creative way to worship, Tony.” 

“How’d you find it anyway?” 

“I sensed it.” 

“Like a magical bloodhound.” 

It was Loki’s turn to roll his eyes. They were both smiling though, and as they sipped their wine and listened to the music, they were perfectly content.


	7. Glory Hole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit dark, because it’s Sakaar. Everyone's enslaved under the Grandmaster. Note this is kinktober prompt, explicit. Objectification tag.

There was a lot of bullshit that you got used to with living on Sakaar. It was a literal trash planet. 

You didn’t get a lot of choices living on Sakaar, either. It had taken Loki several years to get in an amenable enough position with the Grandmaster that he didn’t feel he was in any immediate danger but still had the luxury of not being one of the Grandmaster’s disposable bed slaves or champions. 

Tony hadn’t been quite so lucky. Once the Grandmaster had grown bored of him, Tony had been left to fend for himself as one of the Grandmaster’s many courtesans. Sometimes Tony snuck off into the scrap piles and made cash on inventions and handiwork, but you couldn’t really escape the role the Grandmaster chose for you.

So Tony was a courtesan, and Loki was an on-call magician, weaving banal spells to delight and entertain. Naturally, they met. Over time their commiserating became friendship, and their quick minds found a home in each other. It was hard to say when they officially started dating. It was easy to say when they officially broke up. 

It had just been an argument that had gone too far, and they were always butting heads. Neither remembered anymore who suggested that they break up in the heat of the argument. They both just remembered agreeing and immediately leaving.

Loki was taking the breakup especially hard. Tony had been his only true friend on Sakaar. He’d been the only person that Loki trusted, as much as you could on a place like Sakaar.

There were many sights that you just got used to seeing in the Grandmaster’s tower. The Wall of Glory was one of them. It was a long hallway in which there were elegant holes in the walls through which bodies were visible from the hip down. Not all of them were humanoid. Some were dressed, others were completely bare. The purpose was obvious, even if there weren’t always some partakers there. 

Sex was just another commodity in the Grandmaster’s world, and so the hallway existed for anyone to use. It wasn’t odd to see the Grandmaster himself there sometimes. 

Loki was utterly miserable. He missed Tony. He didn’t believe he could get Tony back. His pride wouldn’t allow it. That didn’t stop his every thought from being about Tony. So for once, the wall seemed like a good distraction. Loki went for the first body that stood out to him. 

He studied the panel on the wall for a second. With the press of a button, the person was moved within the artificial wall to be at Loki’s preferred height. 

They didn’t flinch when Loki set his hand on them. If anything, they spread their legs wider. Fabric was covering their legs, but their bare ass was on full display. It didn’t require a lot of thought. Loki grasped the bare ass with both hands, roughly parting it to reveal a thoroughly slicked hole. 

Obviously they’d been prepped, and it was the most inviting thing. 

Loki freed himself and pushed into the tight heat, letting out a hard groan. It had been too long. 

The tight heat enveloped him. His eyes fell shut and his mouth went slack. He braced one arm against the wall and roughly grasped the hip in front of him with the other. As Loki took one long pull back before thrusting forward, hard, the person clenched. Loki set a rhythm and they clenched at just the right moments, making it better than Loki could’ve asked for. He came embarrassingly fast. 

It didn’t clear his mind. It only made matters worse. He’d missed this. He missed Tony so fucking bad.

Loki was hard again already, his come dripping down the person’s ass and pooling against the skintight fabric on their thighs. Loki thrust in and out. The person didn’t relent. They were perfect. Loki changed his angle until they were spreading their legs as wide as the wall would allow, like they were desperate for more. 

They were perfect. They were—they were as good as Tony, had the same way he did, of doing everything to make Loki fall apart. Their heat was warm and familiar, so similar. Loki could easily fool himself into pretending that it was Tony, so he did. He slapped Tony’s ass then. The hot, red handprint was for Tony leaving him. The hips in front of him tilted up more, inviting. That was so like Tony. 

He slapped the unmarked cheek. Tony deserved that. Loki channeled all his frustration into pounding the ass in front of him until sweat poured down his brow and he was coming, head thrown back in silent ecstasy and he pushed himself up on his toes. 

Loki pulled out. He wiped his forehead, panting. The ass in front of him was wrecked. 

The person’s legs slumped back down. Loki stared at the mess. He blinked. He knew he’d been pretending it was Tony, but that shape, that outline…Loki grasped the ass in front of him again and pushed at this hips, looking for a thin white scar. 

Loki’s heart stopped when he saw it. 

He could’ve walked away then. He could’ve pretended that nothing had happened. Instead, he called out with a hint of fury, “Tony?!” 

“Loki?!” Tony kicked as a reflex, eyes going wide as he recognized the voice through the wall. Fuck! And he’d been enjoying himself so much too, pretending it was Loki, fooling himself. “What’re you—”

“What’re you doing here?!” 

Tony fumbled for the controls and was swept back into the wall. He adjusted himself in his pants. He could’ve left. He could've stayed in the back hallway and not gone outside, or he could've taken the other way out. He didn’t have to leave and go confront Loki, but he did. “What the fuck?! You used to make fun of this place—”

“—and you always acted like you were above it—”

“—So I can’t go when I want to blow off some steam? It’s my fucking job to keep people happy—”

“—That’s never made you—”

“—Why do you even care? It’s none of your damn business—” 

“Excuse me.” 

They both startled, turning and staring at one of the many humorless guards that only seemed to multiply in the place. Instantly, they were silent. 

“You are ruining the atmosphere,” the guard informed them.

They both smiled placatingly, spewing appeasing bullshit while backing away from the hall. Once they were safely around the corner, they turned and looked at each other. They said nothing for a moment, both studying the other.

Finally, Tony sighed and dropped his shoulders. “You want to go, I don’t know. Grab a drink or something?” 

Loki softened. “I—” He shoved down his pride. Loki looked as wrecked as Tony did with his sweat slicked hair and rumpled clothes. “Would like that.” 

“Great. I’ll meet you at the bar on the 42nd floor in fifteen minutes. I’ve got to go wipe your come off my ass.” He started towards the hall. 

Loki blinked, unsure how to interpret Tony’s tone. Tony paused, looking back over his shoulder. “I expect you to buy our drinks, dear.” 

Loki’s mind came back online. “I paid credits—”

“—not enough credits in the world to pay for this ass.” 

Loki broke into a smile, ducking his head. “I will meet you there,” he promised. 

Maybe they’d have a chance after all.


	8. “Stay with Me”

It wasn’t the first time that Tony had landed in the hospital. He could make all the improvements in the world to his suits, but he couldn’t change the aging body inside them. 

This was, however, the worst that Loki had ever seen him. They wouldn’t let Tony go home. He had a massive black eye and a whole litany of other problems that were keeping him bed bound. 

It was the first time that Tony was scared. 

There was a lot wrong, and staying in the hospital didn’t make him feel any better about that. Instead, he worried about leaving. About never leaving. Tonight, it was late. Loki had been reading a book at his side as Tony drifted in and out of sleep. 

Loki glanced over. Tony appeared to be in a restful state of sleep. There were no pained moans or whimpers that he was reluctantly becoming accustomed to. Loki rose slowly, stretching. He was hungry. Perhaps he’d venture down to the cafeteria and attempt to find something agreeable. 

“Stay with me.” 

Loki glanced back, startled to find Tony awake. “Stay with me,” Tony repeated, a quiet plea. 

Tony never begged. Loki had never seen him look so utterly overwhelmed either, or he realized belatedly, scared.

Loki gently smiled. He sat down on the bed beside Tony, combing his fingers through his hair. “Of course,” Loki answered. “I’m not going anywhere.” 

“Thank you,” Tony whispered, the pain meds already lulling him back to sleep. He managed one grateful smile towards Loki before he was out. 

Loki carefully combed Tony’s hair back from his face and smoothed out the cover over his chest. He would do anything for this mortal.

It was time to have a long conversation with his mother about an apple.


	9. Delirium

“Just a bit,” Loki muttered, taking the slender vial his mother had given him and pressing it against Tony’s chapped lips. 

He was relieved that Tony didn’t babble it back up. Loki managed to get it down his throat in one swift movement. The glass clinked as Loki set it on the bedside table. 

“Apple pie.” 

Loki frowned. Tony patted the bed, and it was hard to tell whether he knew what he’d said or not. “This is what you get for spending too much time on Midgard,” Loki muttered to himself. 

Tony was the only Aesir Loki knew that was obsessed with Midgard and its technology. Unfortunately, it also meant that somehow, Tony managed to pick up some pathogen on the foreign realm and get sick. 

“I didn’t take it.” Tony twisted on the pillow, his eyes clearing from the fog just long enough to recognize Loki. “Prince,” Tony blurted out. 

“One of them, yes,” Loki said dryly. He stood beside the bed, unsure of what to do. His mother’s potion would set Tony straight, and Loki wasn’t sure if it was better to let Tony be and sleep it off in the meantime. 

Tony’s hand fell against Loki’s thigh. “Come here.” 

“Tony,” Loki said with a weary note of warning in his voice. Tony grabbed his hand. 

“Please.” 

Loki leaned down towards Tony, doubting whether it was a good idea or not the entire time. “Why are you in my bedroom?” 

“Because you came down with a fever and I moved you here,” Loki explained. “You need to sleep.” 

“I haven’t eaten yet,” Tony complained. His grip on Loki’s hand got tighter. “I wanted apple pie.” 

“Tony,” Loki breathed out. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

Tony wasn’t paying attention any longer. Instead, he was brushing his callused thumb over Loki’s thin, pale fingers. “I always wanted to see you in here,” Tony mumbled. 

Loki cocked his head slightly at his dearest, oldest friend. 

“Why?” Loki dared when Tony didn’t offer more. 

“‘Cause I love you,” Tony said, too delirious to be embarrassed. “Thought we were gonna grow old together.” He hiccuped out a laugh. Loki was frozen, wide-eyed. “Is ok you don’t love me back.” 

Loki’s voice broke as he spoke in a near whisper. “Whatever made you think I don’t?” 

Tony blinked, then tugged on Loki’s hand. Loki found himself kneeling on the bed, unable to stop himself from laying on his side next to Tony, their hands still held. It wasn’t exactly fair. Tony might not remember the conversation when he was better, but Loki had never been one to play fair. “Tony,” he said, stroking Tony’s wrist with his thumb. “What made you think I don’t love you?” 

Tony’s soft brown eyes found him then. They held Loki for a moment before losing their focus. “You never said so.” 

“What would you say if I said I was in love with you?” 

Tony made an odd, elated sound in the bottom of his throat and rolled towards Loki. Suddenly the prince found himself enveloped in the court member’s arms, and he couldn’t force the thought of breaking apart. 

Instead Loki laid there, mind racing with all the possibilities that their future could hold now that they both knew, as Tony finally drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any prompts you'd like to see me write, please let me know! No promises, but I'd love to hear ideas. :)


	10. Hallucination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: post-character death, suicidal ideation, mourning, hopeful ending

It was late October, and Loki’s cheap flannel shirt wasn’t exactly holding up against the chill. He didn’t care. He enjoyed it in a twisted way. It was a preferable distraction against the ache in his chest. 

Loki’s junior year wasn’t what it was supposed to be. That summer, his closest friend and biggest crush had been killed in a driving accident. He’d always loved cars. Loki wasn’t sure if his death was ironic or not. 

Loki’s mother had promised that his heart would heal as time went on, but Loki disagreed. He’d gone from being bright and mischievous to sullen and quiet. He wore the same ripped pair of jeans everyday and a beaten up pair of converse shoes just because his friend had said he’d liked them on him once.

Loki had started taking these long walks into the woods, where the light seemed to fade from the world and the dead leaves scrambled and scratched along the path. 

Sometimes he’d see a deer or a fox that would dart off into the dull colored world. It was utterly serene. There was nothing but the sound of dry leaves on the wind and the occasional squirrel or crow. The air was musty with the decay of leaves and plants. Rarely did he see a jogger or another person along the path. 

It felt like another world, and Loki dearly needed that.

It was the only time he could forget for a while, when Thor wasn’t troubling him with worried stares or his father wasn’t harping on him about falling grades. 

A sharp breeze blew through the skeletal trees, cutting through Loki’s flannel. He pulled the collar up against his neck. Mud splattered his shoes and jeans as he wandered deeper into the woods. 

He stared into the distance, unsure of what he was looking for. The breeze blew again, and the sounds of the crows and squirrels instantly stopped. A shiver ran down Loki’s spine. 

He shrugged it off, but he couldn’t deny that he felt something pulling him deeper into the woods. 

Loki continued until he came across a stone bridge across an empty creek. The gray stones were covered in moss, some of them cracked. 

He’d crossed the bridge many times before, but today uncertainty stirred in his chest. Glancing back, Loki realized the animal sounds in the forest hadn’t resumed. He turned back towards the bridge and instantly felt his heart stop. 

“Hey, Lo.” 

Tony’s lips twitched up in a rakish smile. 

Loki couldn’t move. His heart pounded in his ears, his eyes wide and mind blank in shock. 

Tony leaned against the bridge. He was wearing the same red shirt as the day he’d died, the same jeans. “Missed me?” Tony asked, his voice light, like he was telling a joke. 

“Yes,” Loki heard himself answer. 

Tony’s expression softened. “I know, Lo.” He moved so that he was resting his back faced against the bridge instead, his elbows propped against the stone railing. “Lo, I need you to do me a favor, alright?” 

“Anything,” Loki immediately promised, his voice nothing more than a whisper. His faded green eyes were transfixed on Tony, his body unable to do more than stare at Tony with heartbroken reverence. 

Tony smiled. Closed lipped, a bit pained, his eyes vanishing behind a blink for a moment. Suddenly he seemed so much older than a high school senior. “I need you to live a long, happy life, Lo.” 

Loki’s eyebrows wrinkled, an argument on the tip of his tongue. “My death was an accident, Lo. It was just a mistake.” Tony shrugged his shoulders, as if to say that’s just how it goes sometimes. In that small gesture, Loki recognized the unbearable worry for him in Tony’s expression that was making Tony seem so much older. “But yours, you’re meant to live a long time. Don’t follow me so soon, ok?” 

Loki’s argument died on his tongue. How had Tony known? How could Tony possibly know? 

“I’m not supposed to tell secrets,” Tony said. “But when did that ever stop either of us?” He grinned, and Loki missed him all over again. “You’re going to meet a woman when you’re older. You’re going to have a ton of kids,” Tony said, voice a little amused. It was something that neither of them would’ve pictured. “And you’re going to do a ton of amazing stuff, alright? I’m gonna be pissed at you if you rob yourself of that trying to chase after me.” 

Loki’s expression morphed into sorrow, despite how he could feel how utterly Tony loved him. “I miss you,” Loki said, his eyes welling up with tears. 

“I won’t be far,” Tony promised. He leaned off the bridge. “But I’ve got to play poker with Tesla, you know? I’m busy. Don’t worry.” 

Loki blinked, his sickishly pale face staining red as the tears welled in his eyes. His throat tightened, but he forced the words out anyway. “I love you, Tony.” 

Tony broke into a dazzling smile. “I love you too, Lo.” His outline started to fade against the trees, outlined with golden, dusty light. “Bye, Loki.” 

Tony vanished, Loki’s chest splitting open as he broke into guttural sobs that tore apart his slender chest. 

He hadn’t fallen apart like this since the day of the funeral. He knelt down to the ground and let it all pour out from him. 

When he finally stood, he took a hopeful glance towards the bridge. He felt lighter, though he didn’t miss Tony less. Loki knew the answer, but he walked across the bridge anyway, searching. He stayed until the moon had started to rise and he’d be lost if he didn’t go home. 

“Bye Tony,” Loki whispered. 

As he walked back home, owls called out. The woods had become noisy, and Loki found himself getting calmer with each step. When he walked in the front door of his home, his mother was sitting in her chair with a lamp on beside her as she read. She smiled gently at Loki, inviting him to speak.

“Tony came to say goodbye.” 

“I know, dear.” She opened her arms wide, relieved when her youngest boy finally, finally allowed her to comfort him. She leaned her head against his. “He’s been hanging around you a long time, waiting to tell you goodbye.” 

Loki sighed, his eyes falling shut. His mother rubbed his back, and for the first time in a long time, he felt hope returning.


	11. Numb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think that my writing had the ability to make people cry from the last chapter. Here's something soft and sweet as a palate cleanser. Not sure if the next will come from the whump or kink prompts. :)

Tony noticed that Loki kept looking at his hands as they walked. Loki’s expression was slightly perplexed, as if there was something strange about them. 

They still had a while to go on the walking tour. Tony pushed his scarf down below his chin. “What’re you looking at, Lo?” 

Loki held out his hand, then held it gently against Tony’s cheek, just long enough that he could feel the chill. “I’m normally not so cold,” Loki said. “The weather shouldn’t bother me.” 

That was true. Loki ran cold to Tony’s hot touch, but Loki never complained about being cold the way Tony did. 

Tony tugged off his gloves. “Here,” he said, holding them out.

“But you’ll—” Tony had taken his hand and was pulling the first glove on. 

“I can just put my hands in my pockets,” Tony said. 

To his surprise, Loki held out his hand for Tony to put the other glove on. The soft, pleased smile on Loki’s lips was worth it. “We can get coffee or something at the end of the tour,” Tony offered. 

“I’d like that,” Loki said.

The followed after the rest of the tour then, admiring the architecture and history of the city, both utterly pleased with the other.


	12. Nylons

“When I buy these, would you like to see me wear them?” 

Loki leaned back from the computer, tipping the chair back as he spun it around to look at Tony over the top of his thick black glasses. He pointed towards the screen.

Tony glanced up from his tablet and towards a pair of nylons with lace patterns along the toes. 

It took him a second too long to answer. Loki tipped the chair back up and returned to the screen, taking it as a no. “Yeah,” Tony forced out.

Loki turned back and stared at him over his shoulder. Strands from his messy bun had fallen over his face. “It’s alright if you don’t.” 

“I do,” Tony said.

Loki pursed his lips, thoughtful. “Then what’s that look about?” 

Tony sighed, running a hand back through his hair. “I—” He knew Loki would never judge him for it, not at all. But that didn’t make it easy, per se. “I’d like to wear ‘em.” Tony glanced down. “Not stealing yours, just, I’ve always liked the way they look. I want to try them.” 

Loki smiled softly. “Then I’ll order two pairs.” 

“Deal,” Tony grinned, returning to his tablet as the mouse clicked. 

The day the nylons arrived and they both put them on, Tony found the moment surprisingly intimate. He stood in the middle of their bedroom, looking down at his own legs in awe as Loki got impatient. “Tony,” he beckoned, grabbing Tony’s wrist and tugging him towards where Loki sat on the bed. “Come on.” 

Tony’s thighs had never been so sleek and sculpted. Maybe they were before, and now it was just obvious. 

A gentle hand slid into Tony’s, easier this time and both drew him towards the bed. Tony glanced up. Loki’s smile was crooked. His eyes were soft. 

Tony cleared his throat. “Practical question,” Tony announced. 

Loki sighed and rolled his eyes, dropping Tony’s hands as he threw himself back against the mattress. 

“Seriously,” Tony said. “My junk’s all trapped in here, but it seems kind of pointless to only wear them for five seconds.” 

Loki glared at him before rolling onto his stomach, away from Tony. Longing struck Tony as he stared at Loki’s pale back that vanished into the black nylons. Loki kicked his feet up, waving them back and forth for a moment before rolling over onto his back again. “What would you like to do?” He frowned. “These were expensive. I’m not really that fond of the idea of tearing mine.” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you want me to tear yours?” 

Tony desperately wanted to keep his. He didn’t want to wreck them and have to throw them out. “No.” 

Loki stared at him for a moment, thinking faster than Tony could guess what his emotion was, before he sat up. “Dance for me.” 

“What?” 

Loki twirled his finger. “Woo me, Stark. Put those hips to work and—you have a workshop. You could rig up a stripper pole.” 

“Right now?” 

Loki blinked. In that small, slow gesture, Tony understood and let out a deep sigh. “Loki, I’m not rigging something up right now. I’ll chair dance.” 

“Oh,” Loki purred. “I didn’t know you could do that.” 

“It was an extracurricular at MIT.” 

“MIT? It was an extracurricular at MIT, the school you graduated from, MIT?” Loki mocked. 

Tony waved him off. “Yeah, yeah.” Tony grabbed a wooden chair from the small desk in their bedroom. “Sit back and enjoy, alright?” 

“Oh, I plan to.” 

It took Tony thirty seconds before he called to Jarvis for some music, but he lost himself in it after that. The more he showed off, the more comfortable he became. Loki watched his fiancé with a mixture of lust and pride in the step he was taking. 

Loki had known it was a moment for Tony, and he was glad he’d been a part of it.

At the end of the song, Loki clapped. “Another!” 

“Really—”

“—Yes!” 

Loki cheered Tony on through four more before Tony refused another and climbed into bed, kissing him with a mixture of gratitude and yearning. 

They had a fun night ahead of them.


	13. Abandoned

Tony’s hand had been on Loki’s knee for the past five minutes and a glass of mulled cider from Mrs. Odinson in his other hand for not much longer. Loki hadn’t stopped irritably tapping his foot. He’d agreed to come to his parent’s thanksgiving dinner, but Tony couldn’t entirely understand why. 

They were alone in the study. Mrs. Odinson was in the kitchen, and Mr. Odinson was still upstairs. Thor hadn’t arrived yet. There was an old vinyl record player going in the warmly lit room, playing Christmas songs. 

“Loki,” Tony finally warned as Loki’s knee really started to shake. “You’ve got to calm down.” 

“I know,” Loki bit back bitterly. 

“You want some of my cider?” 

Loki shook his head. 

Tony just took a sip instead, the alcohol burning as it went down his throat. 

It wasn’t much longer they stayed in silence like that. The doorbell rang, and then Thor was walking right in, his mother stepping out to greet him before returning to the kitchen. Loki stood up with bravado when Thor walked into the study.

“It’s so good to see you,” Loki said lightly, welcoming Thor. 

Thor clapped him on the shoulder. “Is it?” He asked, a hint of antagonism beneath his happy exterior. He looked past Loki to where Tony sat. “Stark,” he announced. “I didn’t expect to see you.” 

“I told you that Tony was coming,” Loki started, only to be cut off. 

“I’m simply surprised to see him.” Thor flopped down onto the chair Loki had just been sitting in as Loki wavered behind him, a worried crease in his brow. “What have you been up to?” 

“Not much, Point Break.” Tony glanced back at Loki. “Hey, uh. Thor. Why don’t you get Fortnite started up and we can all play? I’m going to grab some more cider.” Thor immediately went to the TV. Loki’s attention wavered between Tony and Thor before settling on Thor. 

Tony went to go stall in the kitchen for a while and give the brothers some time. 

Tony had expected to return to Loki and Thor playing the game together. Instead, Thor had a headset on while Loki draped himself over the chair in dejected boredom. “Babe?” 

Instantly, Loki straightened up. Tony extended a cup of tea towards him. “Your mom’s done cooking. She’s just sitting in the kitchen and having a cup of tea by herself. Why don’t we all go in there?” 

Loki nodded. He got up, then stopped. “Thor.” His brother didn’t glance up. Loki nudged him with his foot.

“What?!” 

“We’re going to the kitchen to have tea with Mum.” Thor turned back to the screen. 

When Loki and Tony were in the hallway, Tony stopped. He asked in a near whisper. “Ok. What’s the deal with your brother and you?” 

“Nothing.” 

Tony gave him that don’t-bullshit-me look that always managed to work on Loki. Sighing, Loki turned his face away from Tony. “We had a fight a while back, and I said it was probably for the best if we never saw each other again, and he said that’s what I’d always wanted and—” Loki paused, fretting with his tea. “He smiled and that was it.” 

Tony’s eyes were intense. “Lo,” he said. “That’s all stuff I know.” He pursed his lips, thinking. “You guys have talked since then. You said you’re both okay?” 

“Obviously not.” Loki shrugged and dropped his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Tony. I don’t mean to be difficult with you.” He brushed his hair back behind his ear. “Thor’s changed.” 

“Seriously,” Tony agreed. 

Loki managed a small smile for him. 

“Maybe just give Lebowski some space,” Tony suggested. “Maybe he needs some more time to work through things.” 

Loki shook his head. “If I am being entirely honest,” Loki said morosely, “I do not think we can ever go back to the way we were before.” 

Tony didn’t know what to say to that. Instead he put his arm around Loki’s waist for comfort and walked with him to the kitchen. 

Much later, after a tedious dinner with Loki’s parents and Thor in which Tony had to be the driving force for all of the conversation, Tony was enjoying the second helping of pumpkin pie that Mrs. Odinson had talked him into. Mr. Odinson was drinking a glass of whiskey and reading. He seemed to like Tony, in a begrudging sort of way. 

Thor had returned to the study to play Fortnite, and Loki had left to go to the bathroom. Mrs. Odinson was telling Tony about the competitions she had entered her roses in when Tony realized Loki had been gone for a while. 

Tony let it go. Maybe what Loki needed was to spend some more time with Thor. Maybe Thor was doing the big brother thing and letting Loki play with him. 

Tony told Mrs. Odinson about some of the technology he was developing and accepted another cup of tea. Eventually he had to excuse himself to use the bathroom. 

It was close enough to the study that Tony had seen the lights from the TV flashing on the floor when he’d opened the door to the bathroom. He hadn’t intended to spy. But as he’d been washing his hands, he’d heard Loki’s strained voice and his stomach had turned with worry. 

Tony gently took a few steps down the hallway, listening. 

Thor didn’t speak in the same hissed, self-conscious tone that Loki did. It was easy to understand him. “What would you like me to say, Loki?” 

“I am not asking you to say anything specific, Thor. I am just asking that you not deny it.” 

Tony didn’t hear a response. Holding his breath, he took a step closer towards the study. 

He could just make out Loki speaking in a calmer tone, trying to persuade Thor. “Open communication was never our family’s forte.” 

“You have no idea,” Thor answered, voice heavy with implications. 

“We could start,” Loki suggested. “Try to be better.” Tony dared a step closer. “Tony and I talk. It’s taken me practice, but Tony’s helped me. We could do better too—”

“—Is this another of your tricks? You pretend to be my brother, only when it fits into one of your schemes?” Tony’s soft swell of affection for Loki was snuffed out by Thor’s sharp answer. “I trust you, you betray me, round and round in circles we go. See Loki, life is about... It's about growth, it's about change, but you seem to just want to stay the same. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you'll always be the class clown, but you could’ve been more.”

“I’m not twelve anymore, Thor. I’m not trapping you in your room or putting food dye on your toothbrush. I’m a goddamn adult for fuck’s sake, so stop speaking to me as if we’re still kids—” 

“—Why should I trust you?” Thor demanded. “Why should I trust the brother that always got us into trouble and then went crying to mother so that I’d be the one that got punished?”

“You’re angry about things that happened ages ago!” 

There was silence. Tony’s heart was starting to pound as he debated going in to break it up.

“We haven’t been children in over fifteen years, Thor. Get over it.” Nothing. If Tony had to guess, Thor was staring at the TV with his headset on. Loki spoke again, although this time the anger was replaced by resigned heartache. “Fine. It’s not as if I’m not used to going it alone.” Tony couldn’t stay out at that. 

Loki startled when Tony knocked on the doorframe. “Hey!” Tony said brightly. “You guys want to go grab another slice of pie or something? I feel bad hiding out in here when your parents are by themselves on thanksgiving.” Loki walked to Tony without a backward glance at Thor. He grabbed Tony’s hand and kept walking. Tony had to pick up his feet to match his pace. 

“I’m ready to go home,” Loki announced. 

Tony grabbed Loki’s wrist, planting his feet in the carpet so Loki would stop. Worry crossed Loki’s face as he did. “Are you alright?” He asked. 

“Me? I’m fine. But what about you and Thor?” 

Loki sneered at his brother’s name. “He’s perfectly fine.” Loki drew a slow breath in. “I offered him a metaphorical olive branch and he shoved it up my nose.” He took a step towards the kitchen. “Let’s go home.” 

Mrs. Odinson gave them some leftovers to take home, and Mr. Odinson surprised Tony by giving them a new bottle of whiskey from his collection. They started towards the front door on their own, but Tony stopped. “I’m going to say bye to Thor. It’d be weird if I didn’t,” Tony said. Loki didn’t argue. 

Tony hurried down the hall. Thor impatiently pulled a headphone off one ear when Tony waved at him. Tony knew it was a bad idea, but he was upset and had a habit of being overprotective when it came to Loki. Tony leaned towards Thor where he sat on the floor. “Be nice to your brother, Fabio. He’s making an effort.” 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“I know you’ve door slammed a guy that’s eating crow to get his big brother back.” 

Thor wasn’t intimidated in the least. “Stay out of it, Stark.” For a split second, Tony remembered that the guy could knock him out cold if he wanted to. 

“I’m serious, Thor. Meet him halfway.” 

Tony stood up and took a step back as Thor glared at him. Tony left without a response. Loki was standing beside the front door waiting for him. As they walked to the car, Tony said, “I’m sorry your brother’s such a dick.” 

Loki was quiet for a moment. “I’ve been one too.” 

“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Tony disagreed. 

They got in the car. As Loki shifted it into drive he said, “It’s fine.” 

“It’s not,” Tony pointed out. He reached over and set his hand on Loki’s thigh since he couldn’t reach his knee. “But I’m here if you need me.” 

The gentlest, happiest smile that Tony had seen all night graced Loki’s lips. “Thanks, love.”


	14. Adrenaline

“Please save me.” 

“I’m dying.” 

Tony woke up with a sweaty forehead. 

He rolled over, the voice and the words replaying in his mind. 

He’d been hearing them for weeks now. Tony didn’t know what to make of them, but they carried a very real sense of urgency that he found impossible to ignore. 

Whoever the voice was, Tony felt for them. They seemed lonely. 

Tony forgot about the dream and the voice as he went about his day. He always did. He set a cold mug of coffee in the microwave. He had a habit of getting distracted and forgetting about the coffee until he needed it again. The microwave began to buzz. “Please.” 

Tony blinked. He looked at his coffee rotating in the microwave. He ran a hand through his hair. Odd. To remember his dream like that. 

The microwave dinged and Tony welcomed a very needed cup of coffee. 

Tony had papers to grade. He didn’t know why he thought being an adjunct professor at MIT was a good idea. Maybe it was because Rhodey talked him into it. 

Tony stared at the essay in front of him until the lines blurred together. “I’m dying.” Tony rubbed his eye, dropping the pen on the papers. “Tell me about it,” Tony amicably told the dream voice. He stretched his back and took another shot at grading. 

There was a figure standing in the distance. There was nothing but their silhouette and a line of teal-green twirling around their figure. Whatever backlit them made it seem as though they had horns. “Save me.” 

Tony recognized the voice. He couldn’t move any closer to it, but he recognized it. “Help me, please.” 

“I don’t know how,” Tony thought dryly in the dream, unable to speak and oddly confused. 

He felt a hand on his own and jolted awake as a face appeared before his, the only thing Tony recognizing was the paleness. “Find me.” 

The words echoed in Tony’s head as he pulled the sheets around himself, afraid. 

“Professor Stark.” The tall man smiled at him like the world was telling some sort of marvelous joke. “What brings you to my office hours?” 

Tony glared at Professor Strange. The man was the most pretentious teacher at MIT. Tony walked right in and shut the door behind him. 

“I’m having these odd dreams,” Tony said. “So I thought I’d ask you Stephen, so you can regale me with your psych knowledge.” 

Tony spun his hand around in the air as he spoke, setting down a cup of half-finished Starbucks with the other. He adjusted his glasses as Stephen leaned back in his chair, amused. “You don’t think they’re just odd dreams,” he said knowingly. 

Tony rolled his eyes. Stephen’s office was covered in metaphysical memorabilia from his year on sabbatical. “I’m not saying that,” Tony said, fidgeting as he sat up in the chair and moved closer. He put his hands together in his lap. “I’m saying that they’re odd dreams and either you’re going to give me a psych 101 explanation that I haven’t stumbled across, or you’re going to have some kind of mystical answer, yeah.” Tony looked up at Stephen over the frames of his glasses. “I want out of these dreams, Stephen.” 

“Describe them.” 

Stephen sat back, his fingers in a steeple as he gave Tony a cheshire cat grin. Tony glanced at the cape-like red overcoat Stephen was wearing and bit back on something witty. Instead he described the dreams. 

“Hmm.” 

“Hmm? You hear all that and the answer is hmm?!” Stephen ignored Tony’s look so Tony reached for his cold coffee instead. He didn’t wrinkle his nose at the taste. He’d gotten used to drinking the stuff long ago and he wasn’t about to run down to the break room to warm it up. 

Stephen thought on it for a while before answering. “I have a suggestion, but we both know you won’t like it.” 

Tony frowned, blinking, just daring Stephen to tell him. 

“Let me hypnotize you.” 

Tony sipped his coffee again, debating. It snapped against the table as he set it down. “Fine. Just don’t convince me to do something stupid.” 

Getting hypnotized was easier than Tony thought. At first he was afraid he’d fall asleep on Stephen’s chaise lounger, but he didn’t. After a while, Tony stopped thinking about Stephen and the room. 

He found himself walking down a cold, foggy path with nothing but hard gray pavement beneath him. 

Tony’s foot bumped into the figure before he realized the man was laying sprawled on the ground. It was the first time Tony had gotten a true look at him. Black hair lay across his unconscious face. He was wearing thick, ceremonial robes of black, gold, and green. Something prompted Tony to name him, but Tony couldn’t. 

Tony knelt down. “Hey.” 

Tony pushed the man’s shoulder, turning him onto his back. The man’s lips fell open. “I don’t think he’s dead,” Tony reported. 

Suddenly, the man’s eyes blinked. Shocked, green-golden irises stared back at Tony. “You’re here,” the man said, grabbing Tony’s pants leg and startling him. “No. Wait,” he soothed Tony, crouching as he sat up but not letting go of Tony’s pants leg. “It’s alright.” 

Something was telling Tony to stay calm, to not panic. Tony didn’t know why, but he did feel calmer. 

The man smiled at him. He rose slowly, and then he wasn’t so frail anymore. He looked powerful. Ancient. “You came when I called.” 

“You said you were dying,” Tony explained.

The man smiled softly, then tilted his head slightly. “In a way, I am.”

Tony wasn’t sure if he liked this man. He wasn’t sure he could trust him. “What’s your name?” Tony asked, following a sense of direction. 

“Loki,” Tony mumbled, but he couldn’t make out the rest. 

“What’d I say?” Tony demanded with a yawn. 

“A better question would be, what do you remember?” Tony looked at his friend and then down at his hands. “A guy, Loki, right?” Stephen nodded. “I don’t remember anything after that.” 

Stephen waited for a moment, but when Tony didn’t tell him more, he explained. “You said he’d been your lover in a past life and he was asking your help now so he wouldn’t be something. You didn't finish the thought.” 

“Huh.” Tony scratched his beard. “What the hell am I supposed to do with that?” 

“Maybe he represents a part of you that you’ve been neglecting.” He shrugged. “It’s midterms,” Stephen said, as if Tony didn’t already know. “Finish your grading and see how you feel after the break when the stress has gone down.” 

Tony shook his head. “I’ve been having these for weeks, Strange.” 

“We could try another session and see if we can get more information.” 

“I’ll think about it.” 

As Tony walked across campus, he recalled the man’s face. Tony grinned. He could buy the whole former lover thing. Loki was hot.


	15. Hair Pulling

Tony’s fingers were tangled in his hair, and Loki drank in the adrenaline of it as Tony dominated the kiss. He loved it when Tony pinned him to the mattress and pulled his hair as he rode him from behind. After, Tony sleepily teased out the tangles, babbling to Loki about nothing in particular. It was nice, falling asleep that way.

The next time Tony grabbed Loki’s hair, he hissed out in pain and snapped at Tony. Tony apologized, but Loki pulled Tony’s hand away when he tangled his fingers in Loki’s hair again. 

Tony was more careful the time after that, but Loki was quickly realizing that his hair had become a fixation for Tony. Loki took some pride in that, but it started to become an annoyance too.

The hair he’d carefully braided wrecked after making out. Tony getting his elastic tangled and knotted in his bun so badly that Loki had to cut it out with scissors. Tony wiping the gel from his hair on his jeans when Loki had slicked it back. The curls Loki had finally let have their way left as a frizzy cloud after Tony’s fingers finished raking through them. 

Loki kept letting it go, pushing it down because Tony’s soppy smile was worth so much. 

Until the night of the charity fashion gala. Tony had brought him along, and Loki had spent an awful lot of time getting his long hair prepared. Gold beads made it sparkle. He wore a beaded headdress and small gold horns.

Tony’s eyes had been on Loki’s hair all night. The moment the cameras were off of him for his speech, Tony was at Loki’s side. He picked up a lock of hair. “I know I said it on the way here, but you look gorgeous, Lo.” He brushed his thumb over the shiny lock. 

Loki’s heart rate spiked. He brushed Tony’s hand away by batting the back of his hand against Tony’s wrist. Tony looked up, startled. 

Loki glared at the crowd, unable to return his gaze. “Don’t mess up my hair, Tony. You saw how long I spent doing it.” 

There must’ve been something in Loki’s voice because Tony agreed quickly. “Sure thing. I wouldn’t mess it up when we’ve still got an evening ahead of us and press photos.” It didn’t exactly calm Loki, but he did relax a bit. “I’ve got to go say hi to the guys from Pym Technology. I’ll be back in a bit.” 

Loki watched Tony wander through the crowd with a mixture of guilt and bitterness. He knocked back what was left of his champagne and went to the bar for another. 

Tony waited to touch Loki’s hair until they were back at the tower. It would’ve happened in the car, but Loki had made sure to engage Happy the entire time.

Loki had just taken off his shoes and was reaching to take off his headdress when Tony grabbed his waist and pushed up onto his tiptoes for a kiss. Loki melted into it. The tension of the evening faded in Tony’s soft kiss. And then, like fire, Loki felt burned as Tony grabbed a handful of hair. 

Loki grabbed Tony’s wrist, staring down at him with fury. 

Tony had gone wide eyed. Just for a moment. Then, slowly, as Loki’s silent fury built, Tony’s eyebrow dipped down. “What’s gotten your panties in a knot tonight?” 

Loki huffed and pushed Tony’s wrist away from him, walking towards the kitchen to get some needed space. Tony followed. “Are you going to give me the silent treatment, because that’s real mature—”

“—How many times must I tell you not to touch my fucking hair?” 

Tony seemed to do a double take. “Once,” Tony said. “You said not to touch it at the gala—”

“—You’re always touching it and fucking it up! I’m sick of you digging into it like a cat with a soft blanket! I hate the way you yank on it sometimes and it fucking hurts. It started out alright, but now it’s like you’re trying to start a weed whacker, I swear, Tony—” 

“—You never told me not to!” Tony yelled.

“Well I’m telling you now!” 

The argument died right there. Loki was breathing a little too hard, and Tony was walling himself off. He didn’t have to say where he was going. Loki knew as Tony went to the elevator that he’d be in the lab.

Loki groaned and looked up at the ceiling. 

He’d let it go too long. 

Loki closed his eyes. He knew that, and yet it didn’t kill how utterly pissed he felt at Tony right then. 

He poured himself a glass of wine and turned on the TV. A few hours later he went to their bathroom and locked the door. He plucked each bead from his hair, throwing them on the floor to blow off steam. He went to bed alone. 

When Loki woke in the morning, their bed was still empty. His heart sank. He doubted that Tony had returned during the night.

Loki wandered towards the kitchen, smelling burnt egg along the way. When he got there, Tony was at the stove. Tony looked up. “I’m making omelettes.” 

“I can smell that,” Loki lightly teased. 

“Fair.” Tony sighed, pushing at the omelette with the spatula. Loki made himself some coffee and sat down at the table. After a moment, Tony flipped the omelette onto the plate and brought it over to Loki. It was an unexpected move. “I’m sorry,” Tony said. “I never really asked if you were cool with it, and looking back, I could tell there were a lot of times you weren’t fine with it and I did it anyway.” 

Loki stared at the burnt omelette. “I still could’ve told you no without exploding. I let it go because I liked seeing you happy.” 

“Yeah. Could you not do that?” Tony smiled, trying to be charming, but it really just came off as anxious. “At least not with that?” 

“At least not with that,” Loki agreed. “If you can promise to keep your hands out of my hair unless I put them there for a while.” 

“We can do that for as long as you want,” Tony said. 

Loki gave the burnt omelette a small smile. He could tell they were already over it. 

“I really can’t eat this,” he admitted. 

“Fine, I’ll eat it,” Tony said. “I can make you another—”

“—I’ll have cereal,” Loki stopped him, standing up. 

Tony relaxed then, smiling at Loki with a bit of tenderness. “You sure you don’t want cereal instead?” Loki asked.

“Look, you may not eat it, but I will.” 

Loki broke into a real smile. “I know you will.”


	16. Laced Drink

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is from a whumptober prompt. Please be forewarned that it's Laced Drink.   
Non-consensual drug use trigger warning.

Loki rarely paid much attention to the customers that weren’t regular patrons at the bar. Sure, he’d flirt a little with them if the mood struck him, or more often, needle at them for his own entertainment, but if he knew he wouldn’t be seeing them on a regular basis, he simply didn’t care. 

He didn’t consider himself a therapist _and_ a bartender. Or entertainer, or confidant, or friend, or any of the roles that some of the customers tried to project on him. He could make a killer Rum Martinez and he was always tipped well no matter how the interactions went.

So maybe that was why he didn’t notice when one man slipped something in another’s drink. Loki tried to find a reason why he’d missed it, something to distract himself for how utterly livid he was. It was one thing for him not to really care about those that drifted in and out, and another completely to let something happen. 

In any event, Loki didn’t notice until he saw the brunette’s eyelids flutter and his head sway slightly. Loki paused in polishing a glass. That wasn’t right. Gods got drunk, but that sort of drunk—that looked far more of the mortal sort. 

Loki stepped in front of the brunette. “What is your name?” 

“Tony Stark,” the man breathed out. Loki froze. His eyes snapped to the chair beside the brunette, but the blonde that had been sitting there a split second before was gone. 

It was no matter. Loki would have Thor hunt him down later. No one got away with bullshit in Loki’s bar.

Loki swore under his breath. A god damn mortal in his bar. How the hell had that happened? “How did you get in here, Tony?” Loki asked, smoothly drawing the glass from the mortal’s fingers. 

Tony squinted at him. “He asked that too—” The mortal lost himself in thought as Loki threw a spell down into the drink. His magic answered back that it was a vicious, consuming sort of love potion hiding in the rum and coke. Loki knew no antidote. The mortal was just going to have to sleep this one off. He was lucky he hadn’t consumed all of it.

As Loki dumped the drink out, the mortal caught onto his thoughts again. “Something about—did you know, people know me all over Earth? Posters, murals, I’ve got my own car—did you know that can make you kind of godly?” 

“Apotheosis,” Loki answered him, vaguely annoyed. When he’d figured out who’d dared to commit the crime in his bar, on a mortal no less… 

Tony slumped forward, holding his head up in his hands. “I’m not a lightweight,” he muttered to himself. “Am I? Fuck. Shouldn’t be working out with Cap so much and lay off the green smoothies.” 

“You’ve been drugged,” Loki explained, his eyes catching on the regular that had just walked in. “It’ll be out of your system by the morning. You just need to sleep.” 

When Loki looked back at Tony, the man’s eyes were glossy and wet, the lights of the bar reflecting on them. “Hold tight for a just a moment, ok?” Loki said soothingly, Tony nodding before Loki walked back down the bar. 

Loki shot the shit with the regular for a moment as he made his usual drink before returning to Tony with a glass of water. “I can’t take you back to the mortal realm right now,” Loki said. He didn’t trust leaving Tony alone, not when the potion was in his system. 

Tony poked at the water glass on the counter top with one finger. Loki wasn’t sure if he was listening, or if the potion was filling his head with thoughts of whoever had drugged him. Loki’s ordinarily gruff expression softened for a moment with sympathy. He made up his mind. 

He came out from behind the bar and tugged at Tony’s arm. Tony responded like putty. He let Loki lead him to the back, into a cramped kitchen with a small, singular cot in the corner. He sat on it with a heavy thud. 

Tony didn’t need any prompting to curl up or drag the blanket up over his shoulders. Loki didn’t enjoy dragging the mortal’s shoes off like Tony was an infant, but it was easier than trying to instruct Tony to do so. Loki set them down beside the bed. “This space is warded so that only I may enter it,” Loki told him. “When you’ve slept this off, I’ll find a way to return you to the mortal realm.” 

Tony certainly wasn’t listening now. He’d drifted off before Loki had shut the door to the kitchen. 

Tony sat up. The first thing he noticed was how clear his head felt. The second was the thin blanket that had fallen down into his lap. Tony didn’t recognize the space he was in, but he didn’t feel afraid. 

It was incredibly cozy. The kitchen was lit by a soft, golden light. The walls were a dark green color, the stove top silver and the cabinets black. There were copper pans and sets of herbs growing scattered throughout. Tony found himself smiling, though he wasn’t sure why. 

He tried to remember, but all he could recall was the dream he’d been having about a golden haired hunk. Tony rubbed his face. He remembered deciding to hit the bars that night. So he was somewhere in New York, then. He stood up. 

The floor was terribly cold beneath his feet, even with his socks. Tony sat back down and started putting on his dress shoes, tying the laces.

A slender, tall man with raven hair and sea green eyes hurried in. “You’re awake,” he stated. He paused beside Tony and then cocked his head. “You seem amused.” 

Tony outright grinned, charming. “That’s not the adjective I would use.” 

Loki crossed his arms. “And what would you use?” 

“Delighted,” Tony said. 

Loki balked. “Do you even know where you are right now? Does that not concern you?” 

Tony frowned. Why was this guy lecturing him? He sounded like an old mother hen. “Why don’t you tell me then?” Tony challenged him. 

Loki sighed, rubbing a hand against the side of his face. “I need to return you—What do you remember?” He cut himself off. 

The man was worried, and that set Tony on edge. He felt perfectly fine. No alarm bells were going off in his head. But that man’s expression wasn’t right. Something was obviously terribly wrong.

Tony told him about leaving for the bars, about the man he’d been with and the dream he’d had. 

“Do you remember arriving at this bar?” 

“Yeah.” Tony cocked his head a little. “We left the first place because he wanted to come here, said the drinks were really good but it was hard to get in.” Tony scratched his neck. “But everyone knows me in New York, so it wasn’t a problem. We came right in. There wasn’t even a line.” 

“We,” Loki muttered. Tony couldn’t remember the name of the man he’d been with. Loki was fairly certain that he knew who Tony was describing, or at least where to tell Thor to start.

Loki drew in a long breath. “You shouldn’t have been able to enter this bar, but your status does act as a sort of loophole. If he hadn’t accompanied you, I very much doubt you’d have been able to enter.” Tony raised an eyebrow. The man sounded insane. “This bar is for gods, not mortals. You’re not in New York. You’re in another space entirely.” 

Tony’s expression didn’t change from the somber, pensive look he’d taken on. “I don’t believe you.” 

Loki tilted his head back a little. Fuck. He had a compulsion to prove people wrong. He gestured towards another door in the kitchen. “Then follow me.” 

He threw open the door to the back alley, heard Tony gasp in shock. 

It was nothing but a swirl of black nothingness and stars. There was a dim light illuminating a trashcan by the door, the only sign at all that they weren’t simply floating in space. Tony moved towards it, but Loki threw his arm out. “No.” He knocked the door shut with his leg. “You walk out into that and you’ll be dissolved.” He sighed. “Like I said, I need to accompany you home.” 

Tony wanted to walk out and see what was really there more than anything, but he knew somehow that this guy wouldn’t let him. It wasn’t even worth trying. “A bar for gods,” Tony said. “So which god are you, then?” 

Loki couldn’t help the smile then. “I am Loki, god of mischief.” He nodded his head towards the door that lead back into the bar. “Shall I take you home then, Tony Stark?” 

“How about a drink?” Tony countered. “I want to at least see the bar. And I’m assuming that I maybe threw up in your bar or something embarrassing before passing out to get me back here—”

“—You did nothing wrong,” Loki said sharply. He inhaled. He was still furious over it. He was incredibly protective of his bar, and what happened within it. “You were drugged by a spirit that I suspect will very much regret having ever existed when he is punished for the crime. I brought you back here so that you could sleep it off.” Tony felt the blazing look in Loki’s eyes all the way down to his bones. 

It took Tony a moment to recover. “Thanks,” he managed. 

“There is no need to thank me,” Loki brushed him off, starting towards the door. Tony hated to acknowledge it to himself then, but there was something hot about the guy when he was so pissed. 

Tony scratched at his beard. He understood that Loki was pissed on his behalf, more so than Tony was. Tony was just grateful that he was ok. He’d been through far worse in life, not that it made it alright or any easier. Tony just didn’t want to think about it. Couldn’t think about it. Not now. Especially not now, when he really did want to know more about this Loki guy and what he’d seen outside. 

The bar was fairly busy. Loki was wearing a coat suddenly as Tony walked out and Loki shut the door behind him. Tony blinked. It was…the whole place felt supernatural. He suddenly didn’t want to leave. “A drink,” Tony insisted. “Let me buy you a drink.” 

Loki scoffed. “You want to buy me a drink.” 

“I kind of have this feeling that if I don’t do this now, I’ll never get to see this place again, and I want to see it,” Tony said. “And talk to you. So. What do you say?” 

Loki closed his eyes for a moment. This was bizarre. But, he thought, interesting. At least it was interesting. He did hate the tedium. “Alright.” 

Tony sat down at the barstool, noticing that there was in fact, another bartender. Loki sat down beside him, and the man immediately walked down towards them, a question in his eyes. “He’d like to buy me a drink,” Loki said with some amusement to the bartender. There was a challenge there too, but Tony didn’t understand.

“Can he afford it?” The bartender asked then, some kind of inside joke. He glanced at Tony’s affronted expression. “Your friend has very expensive taste,” he informed Tony. 

“I’m sure he can afford it, Thor,” Loki said, also amused. 

Thor just laughed and went to go make his brother’s favorite drink. “You do take mortal currency, don’t you?” Tony asked, worried for the first time in his life that he couldn’t pay for something. 

“It’s on the house,” Loki said. Tony started to argue, but Loki held up his hand, and Tony stopped. He didn’t know why, but something about Loki made Tony want to listen. 

So instead, Tony started to ask questions. And Loki began to genuinely talk, and banter with his brother, and Tony, and Tony found himself wanting to never leave. When the conversations naturally dwindled down and Loki talked about taking Tony home, Tony asked the most daring question he’d had all night. 

“Can I come back here again?” 

Loki’s eyebrows raised. He glanced over at Thor, thinking. “Yes,” Loki answered, surprising himself. “I’ll show you how you can get back here on the way out.” He decided he’d set a permission to allow Tony in, surprising himself even more. 

Emboldened, Tony went for another question. “Can I have your number?” 

Loki breathed out a laugh. “Cheeky,” he said. “You’ll have to work harder for that.” 

Tony beamed back at him as Loki put on his coat. “I can do that.” 

Loki had no doubt he would. He grinned, inwardly delighted. It would be quite fun to see if the mortal could court him.


	17. First Conversation

Tony had seen Thor’s brother, Loki, often enough to recognize who he was. They never really interacted. Loki had sharp, judgmental eyes that Tony didn’t want honed in on him. Loki also had an artsy look with thick black glasses and a perpetual dissatisfied downward quirk of his lips that only further encouraged Tony to avoid him. 

Whenever Tony and the rest of the gang hung out at Thor’s place, Loki acted as though they weren’t there. They all knew Thor’s roommate and brother held disdain for all of them. Most of the time though, it was easy to forget that Loki was there. 

And then one evening Tony offered to pick Thor up when they were all headed to the movies, and Thor answered the door and asked if Tony could wait for ten minutes while he finished getting ready. Tony flopped down on the couch. He pulled out his phone and only a couple minutes later heard a distinct hiss. He glanced up, confused. 

“You need to get your feet off the table,” Loki said, gesturing his hand towards the coffee table. He hurried forward, snatching up the card that had been under Tony’s foot. 

Tony could tell he’d fucked up. He wasn’t sure how, but the way Loki held the cards to his chest as he gathered the rest lent something wounded and worried to his anger. “Sorry.” 

Loki didn’t make eye contact. He grabbed two more that Tony had knocked onto the floor. 

“I didn’t realize—” Tony stopped. He really, truly felt bad. Loki wasn’t just pissed. He looked hurt. “Are they an art project of yours?” Tony tried. 

Loki’s lips flinched in a tight smile. “No.” 

Tony leaned forward as Loki fanned through them, seemingly counting them. “What are they?” 

“Tarot cards,” Loki said tersely. 

Tony’s expression softened as he watched Loki dig beneath a magazine and draw up one that had been missed. Tony remembered Thor complaining about his brother doing magic, but he’d been imagining stage magician tricks. Wanting to make up a little for Loki’s upset, Tony asked, “Will you read my cards? I’ll pay you.” 

Loki paused. “You’d pay me?” He asked in disbelief. 

Tony nodded. 

Loki seemed so surprised by the attention that Tony found himself pitying him. “Yeah. Of course.” 

“Not here,” Loki said suddenly. “My room’s better—” He glanced around, animated, almost anxious. 

“Okay,” Tony shrugged, standing. 

Loki lead him to the first door in the hallway. They could hear Thor knocking things around in the bathroom. Loki’s room was lit by one window. There were plants and tapestries, and piles of books scattered about. Loki knelt at a coffee table covered with an embroidered purple cloth and gestured for Tony to do the same. 

Tony sank to the floor. There were a few crystals on the table and a pair of plush rams. “What’re these for?” Tony asked, brushing his fingers over the head of one.

Loki set down his cards and took the ram out from under Tony’s hand, stroking its head in the spot Tony had just touched as he set it in his lap. “Brynjar and Andor,” he said, placing the first ram down on the floor beside him before grabbing the other and doing the same as though Tony might sully them. 

So Loki had a territorial streak. Tony wondered if it came from living around Thor. He knew the two brothers could fight like cats and dogs. 

Loki shuffled the cards and divided them into three piles. “Pick one.” 

Tony pointed towards the middle. 

Loki immediately began to lay the cards in a clearly practiced, efficient way that was equally complicated. Tony didn’t pay attention to the cards as much as he did Loki’s nervous quirk of his lips. He’d never really paid much attention to Loki, but now that he was here, Tony thought he seemed so much lonelier and shy than he’d realized. 

“Currently, you’re in a good place in your life. There’s a lot of abundance, and you feel that things are going well,” Loki said. It was strange to hear him be so soft-spoken when all Tony knew of him was the barbs he threw at his brother. “But you’re looking back at something,” Loki said. “Did you have some sort of creative project that didn’t work out like you expected?” 

“Yeah,” Tony admitted. He didn’t feel like it was the reading. He just found that he didn’t mind talking to Loki and opening up about it. “I’ve been designing weapons for my dad’s company, and I don’t know. I mean, it’s alright. I just wonder if I should’ve done things differently. I wanted to do another project.” 

“I wouldn’t look back,” Loki said. He seemed so certain, even as he kept his eyes trained on the cards, as if determined not to look at Tony. He had startlingly green eyes. “You’re doing quite well right now. It’s not helping you to look back on spilled milk.” 

Tony nodded, not sure what to say. Loki pointed to the next card. “You should stay focused on your work, but also be grateful. Sharing what you have with others because you’ve been successful. You’re—this whole spread, I think your designs are very profitable.” 

Tony let out a half-laugh. “You know my family,” he said. 

Loki glanced up at him, reminding Tony of a rabbit. He looked back down. “I do,” he admitted. “But that doesn’t make this any less valid.” 

Tony couldn’t tell from Loki’s tone if he’d insulted him or not, and the entire point of this thing had been to cheer him up. “No, yeah, right,” Tony said. “Totally. Just saying, my family’s pretty good at what they do and stuff.” 

Loki drew in a breath through barely parted lips and continued. “In the past you spent a lot of time thinking about something. The project that you regret?” Loki guessed. 

“Clean energy,” Tony told him. “I wanted to give up some of my weapons work and focus on that instead, but it doesn’t pay the same. My dad doesn’t care for it.” 

Loki frowned. “You’re good at what you do,” he said softly. “I think it’d be profitable.” He tapped at a card with ten golden coins on it. “I don’t think you have to worry about taking financial risks. Whatever you create is going to pay well.” 

Tony shrugged. It wasn’t a matter of it paying well. It was a matter of his father approving. 

Loki brushed a lock of hair back behind his ear. “You’re going to be working very hard on something in the near future, and feel like you’re going quickly and making progress. You need to keep your emotions in line though, not overthink it. It’s going to be tough. You’re going to have a lot to figure out and there’ll be challenges, but if you stand up for yourself, I think you can make it. I mean, I can see that you hope to make it work out. You think you can make a profit, and you’re afraid that it won’t.” 

Loki dared to glance up, and even though Tony saw the same glimmer of judgment Loki always seemed to have about him, there was something questioning and vulnerable too. “Are you planning to go about the clean energy project in a new way?” 

“Yeah.” Tony hadn’t told anyone, but he’d been thinking about it. “I was, kind of. Thinking of making a new product, doing it differently.” 

“You should,” Loki said emphatically. Tony gave him a small smile. 

Tony glanced down. “So what’s the moon one about, then?” 

“That’s the outcome,” Loki said. 

He didn’t immediately elaborate, so Tony didn’t get his hopes up. “Not good, huh?” 

Loki tilted his head. “No,” he said, but he wasn’t agreeing with Tony. “It’s uncertain. There’re probably things going on at your father’s company that you’re not aware of. I don’t know if your clean energy product would work out there in particular, but I still think you should pursue it.” Loki seemed hopeful as he looked over the rest of the cards. “I think you’ll be successful if you try, Tony. Maybe market it on your own.” 

Tony managed an awkward smile. Even if Howard let him do that, Obie wouldn’t. “Thanks. Um. How much do I owe you?” 

Loki wrung his hands. “I’m not sure. I don’t normally charge,” he said. 

Tony opened up his wallet. “I’ve got forty on me. How’s that?” 

“That’s too much—” 

Tony set it down. “Look at how many coin cards there are. I think I’ll be alright,” he said cheekily, trying to charm Loki with a smile. Loki flushed slightly and pocketed the cash, then shuffled the cards back together. He didn’t seem to know what to do with himself. 

Tony stared at him for a moment longer, thinking he should invite Loki to one of the gang’s outings. Just then, Thor appeared at the door, looking surprised. “Loki practiced reading on you, huh?” Thor asked with the same tone as a parent whose friends had just indulged their kid. Loki immediately bristled. 

“He’s a client, Thor.” 

Thor hid his surprise quickly, though Tony noticed it was followed by suspicion. He got up. “Hey,” he told Loki. “You’re pretty good. Maybe I’ll need another reading again soon.” 

It was painful how moved Loki looked by that as he cupped his hand over his cards. “Come on, big guy, we’re gonna be late for the show.” Tony said, ushering Thor out into the hall. Thor waited until they were out of earshot from Loki. 

“If you hit on my brother I’m going to kick your ass.” 

Tony wanted to tell Thor no promises. Loki was intriguing. Tony wanted to get to know him. He also didn’t want Thor to kick his ass. “I knocked his cards all over the floor and had my foot on one of them. I thought they were playing cards,” Tony said. 

“Ah.” Tony had the distinct impression that Thor had made the same mistake. 

As they walked out to Tony’s car, Tony glanced up in the building towards Loki’s window. He’d definitely ask for another reading, and maybe figure out if taking Loki out on a date was worth the risk of getting his ass kicked.


	18. Lokitty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired in part by this Lokitty artwork: https://rngrn.tumblr.com/post/51163455159

When Loki had casually mentioned that he could shapeshift, Tony’d assumed that he was referring to the female form that Tony had only ever seen him use to goad and annoy Thor. Not a cat form. So when Loki went from a sleepy eyed, pajama wearing man in their kitchen to a black cat that was leaping up onto the counter in a blink of an eye, Tony really couldn’t be blamed for going into shock.

By the time he’d snapped out of it, Loki had knocked a mug onto the floor. Tony rubbed his eyes. “Lo?” He clutched at his chest. “That’s not—fucking funny.” 

Suddenly his boyfriend was sitting on the counter, swinging his legs back and forth with alert eyes. He smirked. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you so surprised.” 

“I didn’t know you could _do_ that!” 

“I told you I can.” 

“You didn’t say cats!” 

Loki shrugged. “I can turn into anything so long as I’m still myself.” He glanced down at the shattered coffee mug. Loki flicked his hand and it snapped back together. Tony stared at it, still trying to process everything.

“Why now?” Tony rubbed his eye. “Why now when I haven’t even had a cup of coffee,” he complained, stooping down to pick up the mug. 

Loki rolled his shoulders and stretched as Tony set the mug in the sink. “I longed to be in that form, I suppose.” 

Tony sighed and suddenly hands were at his waist, drawing him in towards Loki until Loki could wrap his legs around Tony as he threw his arms around his shoulders. “You’re not too upset?” Loki asked, his lips quirking up even as something vulnerable hinted beneath the words. 

“I think I’ll manage,” Tony said light heartedly. 

“Good,” Loki answered, drawing in for a kiss. As his fingers dug into Tony’s hair, Tony could sense he was in for one hell of a week with this mood from Loki. 

Two days went by before Tony walked into his living room to find a black cat laying stretched out in a sun patch. The slow rise and fall of his stomach told Tony he was asleep. Curious, Tony tip-toed over.

Loki was long and slender, even as a cat. Tony tipped his head slightly to catch a glimpse of his toe beans. They were black as well. Tony knelt down. He set one finger on the pad of Loki’s paw. 

It was so soft. Tony stoked the little paw without thinking, then flinched when it stretched, remarkably clawless as it wrapped around Tony’s finger. Two deep green eyes were staring at him. “You make a gorgeous cat,” Tony said. 

Tony ran his hand through the soft fur, warmed by the sun. Loki’s usual hair was soft, but it wasn’t as silky as this. Tony stroked back and forth until suddenly arms and legs wrapped around his arm and teeth grazed his skin in warning. Tony didn’t feel the claws through his shirt. “Touchy,” Tony said. He smiled as he extracted his arm from Loki’s death grip. “I guess that doesn’t change, no matter what form you’re in.” 

Loki walked away, vanishing beneath the couch. Tony let him go and spotted him again an hour later, asleep again in the sun. An affectionate smile lit up Tony’s face.

Loki seemed to spend most of his time in cat form. Tony was getting accustomed to curling up in bed with a cat kneading his chest before falling asleep, or watching TV with Loki curled up in a ball beside him.

Loki acted like more his cat form when he was human too, it seemed. Or maybe Tony was imagining it. 

And then, one night, Tony woke up to paws on his chest and a nose sniffing at his own. Loki yowled. “What?” Tony muttered, trying to roll over. He shoved Loki off his chest. 

Loki cried louder, hopping up onto Tony’s shoulder and swatting at his face. The soft paw smacked against his cheekbone. Tony wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be mad. “Lo, I’m trying to sleep.” 

Loki’s very human form was over him then, a cold nose nudging at his neck, and a very obvious erection pressing against his hip as Loki’s hands dug into his hair. “Lo,” Tony muttered, trying not to laugh. Loki planted messy kisses on his neck. 

Somehow Tony managed to get Loki into his lap as he sat up against the headboard. Loki’s tongue traced his pulse in his neck. “It’s like three in the morning,” Tony mumbled. He yawned. Normally he’d be all about it, but he was still sleep dazed and disoriented. 

Tony moved to get away and the next thing he knew was a sharp, pointed pain across his face. 

“Did you just scratch me?!” Tony put a hand to his face and saw a thin line of blood. He moved to get out of bed, Loki’s hands at his shoulders, kneading them, a frenzy in him. Tony was just about to snap at him when Loki meowed in his very human body. 

“Well, that answers one question I’ve been having,” Tony said blandly.

Loki’s arms wrapped around his chest. He made an odd sound that Tony supposed was his attempt at purring. “So I think you’ve spent a little too much time in your cat form,” Tony said, knowing damn well Loki was going to be mortified remembering this in a week. “And I’m going to wash my face before you give me cat scratch fever or something.” 

Tony extracted himself from Loki’s hold and walked to the bathroom. The door was shut for a split second before Loki started scratching at it. Tony breathed out a laugh. He looked in the mirror. Loki hadn’t gotten him that badly. He started to wash his face when he heard the door rattle and looked over to see Loki’s very human hand beneath the door, sticking out for attention. 

Tony couldn’t help it. He burst into laughter, clutching his sides and afraid he might pee he was laughing so hard. Somewhere in the middle of it Loki’s hand vanished. Tony wiped off his face and returned to the bedroom to find a very contrite looking Loki. 

He glanced at Tony and away again. Tony was struggling to wipe the grin off his face. “My instincts—” Loki started. 

“—You don’t have to explain,” Tony said. He grinned. “You just have to put up with me bringing it up again.” 

Loki opened his mouth as if to argue and then glowered instead. “Not around Thor,” he warned Tony. There had to be a story there beside the usual brotherly love thing. 

“Deal,” Tony said. His smile turned softer as he stared at Loki. Loki was too proud to admit it, but he was worried about Tony’s reaction. “Now that human-Loki is back online, are you still up for sex?” 

“You can’t possibly be in the mood,” Loki said, dismissive and confident at once as he strode over to Tony. “I apologize for these,” he said, magic healing the wound like menthol, cold and soothing. The scratches vanished. 

“You never apologize when they’re on my back,” Tony leered. 

Loki sighed and swatted at his chest. They both recognized how cat-like it was in the same instance. Loki stepped back as Tony grinned. Loki sighed. “I’m going back to bed.” 

“Lo—”

He morphed into a black cat and ran out of the room. Tony shook his head. He crawled back into bed, knowing Loki would curl up against him in a couple of hours when his pride had recovered. 

Tony smiled to himself. 

Life was never boring with his boyfriend.


	19. Mirror Sex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags for depressive episode/emotional sex. ...and mirror sex!

Mercurial is how Tony would describe Loki. There was no getting around the fact that the god had moods, in a variety of ways, but Tony had grown used to them. He could ride the waves with Loki until things got sunny again, the same way that Loki could gently talk him down from an anxiety attack without judging him for it in the morning or roll his eyes at the playboy act without actually caring. 

Tony emerged from the lab one evening to find Loki curled up in the corner of the couch, hunched over a book. There was a tense line in his brow. Tony didn’t think too much about it. He went to the kitchen and ate a hot pocket by himself. 

It was only when Tony walked back out of the kitchen, Loki’s back to him instead, that he noticed. 

Loki’s long hair wasn’t sleek and shiny as it had been the entire time that Tony had known him. Instead, it was frizzy with half-formed black curls straining to form.

Tony walked around, trying to get a better look. Loki moved his book towards himself and turned towards Tony. “Yes?” 

“I’ve never seen your hair curly.” 

“Oh.” Loki looked back down at his book like Tony had said the most boring thing in the world. 

Tony set his hands on the back of the couch, leaning forward to get Loki’s attention. “When’d you curl it?” 

“I didn’t.” Loki took in a short breath, like he was debating how much he wanted to indulge Tony. “I simply didn’t bother to magic it straight.” 

“Why do you always do that? I like the waves.” 

“Because it looks better that way,” Loki grumbled, setting his book down into his lap and picking it right back up. 

“Lo,” Tony said in sing-song. 

Loki glanced up, curious. Tony was glad to see that his expression had softened. “I have this huge mirror in the lab that I was going to use for an experiment, but I don’t really need it anymore. And you know how you said a few months ago you wanted to have a mirror above our bed?” Loki smiled, devious and fond at the same time because Tony had remembered. “You want to help me install it?” 

Loki set his book down on the couch. “I would love nothing more.” 

With magic, installing the mirror took about five minutes. It took even less for Tony and Loki to scramble into the bed, leaving their clothes strewn across the bedsheets with them. 

“You want to be on top tonight, or me,” Tony asked lightheartedly. Loki had already pinned him to the bed and held his wrists, making his preference for the night obvious. 

“Me,” Loki huffed, his pale skin flushed in bright pinks. He wrestled the lube bottle out of Tony’s hand as Tony laughed. 

Loki didn’t make a production out of working Tony open. Tony wouldn’t tell Loki because he’d been accused of being a narcissist one too many times in his life, but he loved watching his own face in the mirror as Loki’s fingers vanished inside of him. He loved watching his legs wrap around Loki’s waist, the way Loki’s hair fell down his back as he buried himself inside Tony. 

Loki’s movements were slow, his breaths short, pattered with moans against Tony’s ear. Tony grinned, the feeling warm as he did. He never complained about pace, but he especially loved nights when Loki wanted to take it slow. 

Tony let his eyes fall shut. He realized he’d been muttering adoring nothings back to Loki. The bed sheets felt warm against his back as Loki’s weight grounded the floating feeling in his chest. Tony combed his fingers through Loki’s hair. The soft texture snagged his attention. 

Tony glanced up at the mirror. Loki’s pale hips rocked against him, barely hinting at movement. Tony’s eyes snapped away to the black curls cascading down Loki’s back. They stuck out like a sore thumb, but Tony didn’t understand why. 

He closed his eyes again, muttering to Loki about how good he was. Loki shuddered and stilled. Tony couldn’t deny the awareness of a thick cock inside him, but the rest was easy to lose an awareness of. He was so comfortable with Loki. Everywhere they touched felt natural, like home. 

Tony found his fingers moving through Loki’s hair of their own accord again. The texture grabbed his attention, again. It wouldn’t let him go. 

Years, and he’d never known that Loki naturally had curly hair. Loki hadn’t _bothered_ to magic it. Tony held the thought for a moment, wishing he could give in and melt with the sensation of Loki drawing out slightly only to push back in again. Tony’s toes curled. 

He settled his hands on both sides of Loki’s face, encouraging the god to look at him. Loki’s bottom lip was swollen. He gazed at Tony with half-lidded, lust-hazed green eyes. 

The thought clicked. “Loki,” Tony said softly, the name itself an endearment. “Babe.” He brushed his thumb against Loki’s cheek. “This is one of those hard times, isn’t it?” 

“Tony,” Loki breathed out, a rush of breath. He understood exactly what Tony meant. “Yes.” He let his weight slump into Tony then, closing his eyes as Tony’s thumb stroked, brushing against his lip. “I think it’ll pass soon.” 

Tony spoke in a near whisper. “You couldn’t be bothered to do your hair.” 

Loki gave him a self-deprecating smile. “Or put any of my clothes away, or magic food here, or put a single thing away today.” 

“Mmm,” Tony hummed, cradling the back of Loki’s head and rubbing small, soothing circles there. 

“I showered though,” Loki said, a hint of humor in his voice.

“Thank goodness for that. I wouldn’t want us to get dirty or anything.” 

Loki laughed, and it was music to Tony’s ears. Tony shifted his hips, his arousal uncomfortable. His mind was still fogged with arousal. 

“Tony,” Loki practically purred. “You shall simply have to bathe with me this week.” 

“No problem,” Tony promised. 

Loki smiled, planting a kiss to Tony’s forehead. He was exhausted. Tony could see that now. It was in the way Loki moved, the way he spoke. How hadn’t Tony noticed? “Get on your back?” Tony asked. “You need to check out the mirror. I can’t be the only one to enjoy it.” 

Loki slowly withdrew. He had enough humor to give Tony a patronizing pat when Tony winced at the emptiness. Loki’s eyes slid towards the mirror as Tony sank back down onto him. 

Tony didn’t set a faster pace, not really, but he loved watching the expressions that fleeted across Loki’s face as he watched them in the mirror. He’d always suspected that there was a voyeuristic streak lurking in Loki. Tony gasped when the god’s warm fingers curled around his cock. 

Loki didn’t say anything, the movements slow and slightly absent. But his other hand held Tony’s thigh the same way he’d hold Tony’s hand. 

Tony didn’t last much longer. He had to sit and catch his breath, his own come painting his chest. When he glanced back at Loki, he found a proud, adoring set of eyes on him. 

It was too uncomfortable to keep going, but Loki didn’t complain when Tony took him in hand instead, burying his face against Loki’s neck as he stroked, kissing and sucking Loki’s neck as Loki came with a startled moan. 

Loki’s scent overwhelmed Tony as he looked up from sweat slicked skin. “Lo,” Tony said. Loki’s gaze was distant, his mouth slack. Slowly, he turned back towards Tony, curling in towards him with a soft smile. “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” Loki mumbled sincerely, wrapping his arms around Tony. 

Tony waited for a moment, his heart picking up a few beats. “You’ll come find me if you need anything this week?” 

“Promise,” Loki said. He kissed Tony’s forehead. “Even if it’s to assist me with something mundane like emptying the dishwasher.” 

Tony slumped in relief. Then he scooted in closer to Loki, burying himself against the god’s chest. “Could I sweet talk you into magicking us clean, though?” 

Loki made an amused sound in the back of his throat as Tony felt himself refreshed. “Thanks, babe.” 

Loki pulled the covers up over them. “I like the mirror, Tony.” 

“Do you?” 

“Mhmm.” 

Tony fell asleep thinking of ways they could be more creative with it in the future.


	20. Tear Stained

Tony crouched down in the center of the stone room, heaving breaths as hot tears poured down his face, a sharp bite left behind by the freezing cold air. 

Tony’s chest ached. He could barely breathe. Each sob was wracked by shallow, gasping breaths. A thick fur cape was drawn around Tony’s shoulders, but he still shook. 

Tony hadn’t been thinking about where he was going. He’d just come here. He’d never seen anyone else here, aside from Loki. It was deep enough in the woods to imagine that no one else ever came. 

Tony’d run from the village. He was embarrassed, scared, alone. Panicking. 

For ages it felt like, he did nothing but shake and cry. When the tears stopped, the thoughts flooded in, and that seemed worse in a way. They bit and gnawed on Tony’s soft heart until he couldn’t bear anymore. 

With trembling lips, Tony whispered, “Lo-ki.” 

Immediately, Tony’s chest seized. What if Loki didn’t come?What if he did? 

Tony didn’t want Loki to see him like this, and yet he was in so much pain that he hadn’t been able to stop himself from calling out any longer. 

Tony squeezed his eyes shut. He was alone. He needed someone. _Loki_, Tony thought. “Loki.” 

Tony felt the presence even before he felt arms encircle him, pulling Tony to his chest. Tony startled then melted. He shook harder. “May I ask what caused this?” Loki asked, a hint of protective sharpness in his voice. 

Tony shook his head. He felt foolish. He felt he deserved it. 

Loki sighed, drawing a hand through Tony’s curls. “It has been some time since you’ve called me.” 

“Yeah,” Tony said, his voice cracking. He wanted to joke, but the truth found its way out instead. “I didn’t want you to see me like this, but…” 

“And why ever not?” There was a hint of offense in Loki’s voice. 

“Lo,” Tony said, like it was obvious. “I’m crying like an idiot.” 

Loki let out a derisive huff. Tony could _feel_ the disapproval, but he still couldn’t decide if some of it was meant to be dramatic. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Give me your hand.” 

Tony held out his hand and watched, mesmerized and slightly confused as Loki traced the lines along his hand. He turned it over, acting like it was something serious. Tony stopped crying, his breaths calming. And then Loki only squeezed Tony’s hand and smiled at him. 

It was so tender that Tony had to look away. 

“You know Anthony, there’s another job waiting for you should you ever be willing to leave that forge behind. Or put it to use crafting other things.” 

“I don’t think I could hang around in a temple all day,” Tony murmured. 

“Couldn’t you?” Loki asked, his green eyes bright. “It would be so much more fun on Asgard if I had to attend to my head priest’s needs every day.” Loki laughed, the sound making the ache in Tony’s chest dim as he found himself smiling along. Loki grasped Tony’s shoulders, grinning. “If I could move your forge there, you’d come.” 

“Probably,” Tony admitted. 

Warm lips pressed to Tony’s salty ones, but the kiss was over too fast. Loki was standing, and Tony already knew what that meant. “Call me again,” Loki said. There was warmth in his voice as he spoke. “It was good to hear your voice again.” 

There was nothing that Tony could do offer a pained smile in response, unable to look away as Loki faded, leaving nothing but the dim light of the room. Tony rubbed at his tear stained cheeks and took a deep, long breath. 

Loki was right. He should call for him more often. 

Tony looked towards the arched entry way, towards the distant lights of the village. 

He stood up. He’d better get back before the woods grew too much darker.


	21. It was just once and it meant nothing to me!

Loki glanced up from the table when the front door opened, Tony striding in and taking off his heavy wool coat. “Hey babe,” Tony said, rounding the table. “How was your day?” 

Tony leaned in towards Loki, a familiar greeting, but as cool lips touched his, Loki’s nose wrinkled. A faint, peppery cologne clung to Tony, and incense. Loki pulled back, his face sour. 

Tony raised an eyebrow. “I know I had onions at lunch, but that was a few hours ago—” His voice was drowned beneath Loki’s chair squealing against the floor as he pushed it back. “Lo—”

“—You saw him again,” Loki said, his hands curling at his sides. The flash in his eyes was lethal, hiding the hurt beneath it. 

Tony faltered. His face fell as he slowly crossed his arms over his chest. There was no use denying it. “Yeah. I did. It—”

“—I don’t care _why_,” Loki said. He couldn’t stand to be near Tony. Now that he’d caught a whiff of it, it was like the damning smell clung to Tony and amplified. “I don’t care,” Loki lied, turning on his heel and heading straight for their bedroom.

Loki waited by the door for a few seconds, wishing that Tony would follow. When he didn’t, Loki snapped the lock shut. Then he began to pace, fighting the urge to throw something. 

Tony sat in the chair that Loki had just been in, staring blankly in the direction of their bedroom door. 

He supposed he could’ve argued more about it, but he was weary and figured that this was one of those times that he needed to give Loki space. Tony ran his fingers through his hair. He hated upsetting Loki, though he found that odd to recognize in himself. 

Tony lost track of time staring towards their bedroom door in his own thoughts, but it didn’t feel like long when the door swung open and Tony startled at the way it smacked against the wall. Loki’s nose was flared as he breathed in. His hands were hidden behind his back. He took slow, measured paces towards the table. 

“Tell me why you saw him,” Loki said, trying and failing to sound distant and collected. 

“It’s nothing to worry about, Lo. He’s got this shield of the seraphim spell he pulled out in our last battle, and I wanted to know how it worked to see if I could pull some of the ideas for my technology.” Tony looked up at Loki with a little impatience. “It’s not something you do, ok?” 

“I could’ve told you how the spell worked if you’d given me the name he uses,” Loki scoffed. “I could’ve told you ten other spells that would better serve your armor—”

“—Loki,” Tony said, holding up his hand. “Stephen does magic too. It doesn’t mean I think it’s any better than yours.” 

“_Stephen_,” Loki hissed. “Are you such dear friends now?” 

“You’re being ridiculous,” Tony said. He’d wanted to be gentle with Loki on this, but he couldn’t stay detached. The problem with caring so much about Loki was that it was hard to have any kind of distance. “You’re acting like we have some sort of thing going on, and you’re being completely, utterly ridiculous! I’m allowed to see him! I’m allowed to yes, ask about his magic. You’re being controlling. Get over it!” 

“Of course you’re allowed to see him,” Loki said, his cheeks staining as he recognized how it sounded. “He is an Avenger.” 

“Yep.” 

Loki and Tony glanced towards each other and away again, both clearly upset. 

Loki knew Tony was right about it, and yet he couldn’t let it go. He just couldn’t. “You didn’t just see him. You went to Sanctum Santorum.”

Tony didn’t manage to stop himself from rolling his eyes. “That’s where he works.” 

“It’s also where _that_ happened,” Loki hissed, his voice cracking. 

“And I told you it’d never happen again.” 

“You promised me you wouldn’t turn to him and go _there_ again.” 

“It was totally different circumstances this time!” 

Loki felt himself calling to his magic as his chest ached and sent it back down. “You promised!” 

Tony scratched at his beard. “That was once, and you’ve got to _let it go_!” 

Loki’s eyes widened. “Let it go?” He stared at Tony like he didn’t know him. “How could I possibly let you nearly dying go?” 

“Because I’m fragile and mortal and pretty damn good at getting myself into life or death situations, so you’re going to have to let this one go.” 

“No,” Loki barked back. “You should’ve come to me for healing, but instead you went to that cheap hat trick magician—”

“It was just once and it meant nothing to me!” Tony forced himself to take a breath, squeezing his eyes shut. “Look, Lo. Fuck. I didn’t—Thor was right there, okay? And I just—I wasn’t ready for him to know yet. I couldn’t fucking explain away that kind of injury, alright? And Thor knows Stephen and I knew Stephen had the anti-curse on hand because he’d talked about it before, and it was just—easier, alright?” 

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’ve—you’ve just got to let that go, Loki. Every time we’re around Stephen you act like I’ve completely forgotten you’re a mage. I know you’d rather be the one to help me, ok? I know. But like today—sometimes I just want to ask him how it all works, and I can’t do that without sending you into a tizzy.” 

Loki blinked. His face felt like it was burning. “You never told me that it was because you were trying to hide our relationship from Thor.” Tony swallowed. Loki’s eyes narrowed. “You said it was because it was faster. Were you embarrassed of me—”

“What? No! It’s because your brother is five hundred pounds of pure muscle that I don’t want trying to snap my neck because my playboy ass is dating his brother.” 

“Thor didn’t care,” Loki reminded him.

“I know that now,” Tony said. 

Loki had relaxed just a fraction enough that Tony said, “So you can let the whole Stephen thing go.” 

Loki shook his head. “I can’t simply let your nearly dying in the hands of that lousy card trick magician go. You could’ve died.” How could Tony not understand how helpless Loki had felt when he’d learned that Tony went to Strange instead of him? How rejected, how inadequate? 

“Yeah, I could’ve died, but you’re misdirecting that towards Stephen.” 

Loki’s eyes blazed. “I will never care for Strange.” 

Tony shrugged and rolled his shoulders. “Whatever.” He pointed a stubborn stare down at the table. “You know you’re out of line telling me not to see him.” 

Loki folded his arms over his chest, his lips thinning. The rebuttal he was holding back snapped forward. “And you know you’re out of line being so callous.” Loki bit down on his lip, and then was struck by an idea. He vanished without a goodbye. 

Tony stared at the spot he’d left. 

He and Loki hadn’t really mastered the whole working through their arguments thing yet, and this was a big one. Tony felt like being petty about it. Realizing just how much Loki cared about him was too vulnerable and only made Tony realize just how serious things were getting. 

Tony was lounging on his couch reading when he heard thunder crackle and looked to see Thor arriving on the patio. Thor let himself in. “Hey, PointBreak—” Tony paused, shaken by the oddly aggressive smile on Thor’s face. 

“Tony,” Thor said. Electricity began to crackle around his hammer. 

“Woah, hey, Thor, if that thing goes off in here—”

“—I believe you need to be reminded of something,” Thor said. “Do you know what it is?” 

Tony gave him an awkward smile. “I missed daylight saving time?” 

Thor spun the hammer around, tossing it into the air and catching it. “How much muscle would you say I had?” Tony took a breath in. Loki. “Five hundred pounds?” 

Tony held up his hands. “I’ll tell Loki I’m sorry about the whole Strange thing, alright? But there’s nothing go on between me and him! Loki’s just—” 

“This is not about Strange.” Thor’s bright blue eyes turned hard for a moment, the warning in them uncomfortably clear. “Take better care of yourself, Tony.” He lowered his hammer. “You cannot carry my brother’s heart and be so reckless with your mortality.” 

“I was fine that time!” 

Thor gave Tony a look. When he realized that Tony wasn’t clear on what he was referring to he added, “Strange saved your life that time, but I’ve seen how you carry yourself on the battlefield, Tony. If Loki were in our battles, he would see that too.” Tony’s shoulders drooped. “Your selflessness cannot lead to you being killed.” 

Tony wanted to disappear. He hated how clearly Thor got it. Did everyone on the team realize just how deep things had gotten between him and Loki, or was it just Thor? “So you’re not here to threaten me about Stephen. You’re here to threaten me about being careless?” 

A genuine smile brightened Thor’s face. “I’m here because Loki thinks he’s pulling a fast one by having me rattle you a bit with the shovel talk you were so frightened of. He does not know that I am here to give you the same talk, but for an entirely different reason.” Tony held his gaze, feeling exposed. “I never minded you two becoming a couple, Tony. On the contrary, I’m grateful. You suit each other well. But if you endanger yourself and leave him—” Thor grimaced, the warning look returning. 

“Got it,” Tony said. Thor turned as if to leave. “Thor—” Tony looked away. “I’m not—good at _not_ being reckless, ok? I just sort of throw myself at the problem to save the day without worrying about how it effects me exactly—it’s what I do. What I’m saying is, don’t expect me to get it overnight, ok? I’ll try to be more careful for Loki’s sake, just—” He looked up in surprise as Thor’s hand set on his shoulder. 

“I will respect your effort to change,” Thor said. “And offer to train you in battle techniques—in fact, I may insist I do that,” he said, seeing the need for it as he spoke. Stark was vulnerable. He could use Thor’s training. 

Tony knew that look. “Rogers is going to fucking love that,” he mumbled bitterly. 

Thor looked at him before breaking into a laugh. “As will Loki, I imagine.” It would drive Loki nuts for Tony to get so much individual attention from Thor. 

Thor turned to leave and Tony let him go, wondering if Thor didn’t share the same mischievous spark that Loki had. 

“Did he buy it?” Loki asked the moment Thor appeared. 

Thor nodded, giving Loki an assessing look. 

Loki reached into a pocket dimension and pulled out a handful of cash. “I’ll steal it back if you tell him I sent you,” he said, placing it in Thor’s hand. “Tell me how he reacted.” 

Thor pocketed the cash, but then set his hand on Loki’s shoulder. “You should have an _honest_ conversation with him about it, Loki.” Loki began to scoff, and Thor cut him off. “I do not think he truly understands just how it wounded you that he turned to Strange that time, but you two need to come to a point where you stop playing games with one another. You both dance around admitting how much you truly care for each other.”

“You helped me fool him—”

“—I enjoy being a part of your tricks at times, and the bars on Midgard do not take our currency.” Thor took his hand off Loki’s tense shoulder. “That does not make me blind to what goes on between you two.” 

Loki huffed. “So you just wanted drinking money.” Thor shrugged back at him. 

“Perhaps.” 

Loki rolled his eyes. “You are such a pain in my side, Thor—”

“—And you cannot tell him that you love him—” Thor cajoled right back as Loki’s face turned bright red. 

“I—” he started, the wind dying in its sails as he saw the smug look on Thor’s face. “Go get drunk!” 

“Would you like to come? First round is on me,” Thor teased, knowing Loki’s answer even before it was thrown back at him. 

“I will not come watch you make an oaf of yourself,” Loki argued. Thor ignored him, leaving. Loki touched a cool hand to his face, feeling the burn. 

He loved Tony.

Thor, his dense brother, knew.

Did _everyone_ know?


	22. "It will be fun. Trust me."

When Tony’s parents had died, in less than a year, Tony had closed Stark Industries entirely. He’d invested the money wisely, so he’d never have to work again. And then, from there, Tony had gone out into the world less and less, until it was only on the rare occasion that he left his penthouse. 

When Tony thought on it, he only felt relief. 

No more fancy expos where he had to put on a smile and wine and dine everyone. No more expectations on him to revolutionize the world with his inventions again and again and again. No more board meetings where he became more and more aware of how the others saw him as nothing but their cash cow.

Tony didn’t miss his old life. Not even a little. 

He hadn’t planned to become so shut in — but when he left the booze and flings behind, there wasn’t really anyone left. No one but Rhodey, who lived on the other coast now with a wife and kids. 

It had been so long that Tony didn’t really care anymore. Didn’t feel ashamed of it, as he thought he should. As he knew his father would.

Tonight, there’d been a heavy snowstorm. Swaths of the city were shut down, but Tony didn’t pay that any attention. The snowstorm was outside. Visible beyond the windows, but meaningless. 

Until it was late at night and he went to get a cup of mac and cheese, only to see that the cupboard was empty. “Jarv. When was the last grocery shipment?” 

“It has been delayed three days due the storm outages, Sir. May I suggest cooking something or—”

“—I don’t want anything else,” Tony said. “Can you have someone deliver some?” 

“The services have been shut down, Sir. There are no couriers for instant noodles in a snowstorm at eleven at night.” 

Tony frowned at the cupboard. He had a stubborn streak a mile wide. He wouldn’t settle until he got what he wanted, but it also meant going out. 

“Jarv—” Tony clutched his chest. He didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want to. “Are there—” Tony licked his lips. “Any stores open, now?” 

Jarvis was quiet for a moment. “There’s a family run bodega one block down that is open until midnight.” Tony took a deep breath. 

He took measured steps to his front door. It took him ages to put on his shoes, his coat, and then he stood there, staring at the door. Was it worth going out? 

But he had a craving. An awful craving. And it was snowing, so there probably wouldn’t be too many people milling about. 

Tony ended up walking through the snow, swiftly side stepping the one other person on the snowy sidewalk. He squinted at the yellow light of the bodega. It was warm inside. A teenager glanced up from their phone as he entered, then blessedly went back to ignoring him. 

Tony carefully wandered the aisles. There were a few other people in the store. He stayed clear of their path, holding his breath when he passed them. 

Tony wanted to cry when he found two noodle cups left at the back of a shelf. The place had obviously been cleaned out with storm shoppers. Tony grabbed a bag of chips and some chocolate before making his way to the register. 

He kept his eyes down, only nodding when he was spoken to. Tony couldn’t take the plastic bag fast enough. A bell clattered on the door as he pushed it to go outside. 

Tony froze when he nearly knocked it into a tall stranger. “Sorry,” Tony mumbled. 

“Never mind that,” a chipper voice answered. Tony frowned at his boots. “Help me with this, would you?” 

Tony’s head snapped up, soft brown eyes wide as he stared at the raven haired man. A genuinely friendly smile spread across the man’s pale face. He had an aristocratic air to him, in his wool coat and gray scarf. “Here,” he said, grasping Tony’s hand and placing something in it.

Tony had locked up. He glanced at his hand. He hated being handed things, he hated it, he hated it—a carrot. This guy was weird, this was bad— “You get the honor,” the man said. 

Tony shot a suspicious glare towards him, saw the man gesture to a snowman that was so large, Tony wondered how he’d managed to miss it in the middle of the sidewalk. 

“It will be fun,” the man said, practically in sing-song. “Trust me.” 

Tony looked at him, and back to the snowman. 

He hadn’t—he hadn’t done anything at all with anyone in so long. Even something as simple as placing a carrot on a snowman. Maybe that what was drove his curiosity to take the lead, and for him to press up onto his tip toes to gently press the carrot to the center of the snowman’s face. 

“He looks lovely,” the man declared. “I only wish I had branches to give him some arms.” 

Tony allowed himself to take a glimpse of the man again—the man seemed to mean it. The man also must’ve felt Tony looking, because he took that moment to turn to Tony with a smile and say, “My name is Loki. What’s yours?” 

Tony swallowed. He was close to home. He wanted to be back on his couch. He wanted to be home, but he couldn’t leave when the stranger was talking to him. “Tony,” he pushed out. 

“Would you like to help me with the next one, Tony?” 

Tony bit his lip. “Why—are you making them?” 

Loki shrugged. “Why not?” There was so much cheer in it that Tony found himself wondering whether or not it was forced. 

A bell rang in the distance. It echoed down the snowy streets. “Midnight,” Loki announced. “You know,” he said, a mischievous light in his eyes, “At midnight, the snowman can come to life.” Tony gave him an odd, pitying look. “I’m only kidding. Come, help me make this snowman a friend, would you?” 

Tony nodded, unsure of why he was willing to help. 

Loki hoisted the second snowman’s head up onto his shoulders. He hadn’t expected to run into Tony Stark that night. He supposed that not many people knew who Tony Stark was anymore. The man hadn’t been seen in public for fifteen years, and he was nothing like the gregarious partier Loki had met years and years before, back when he’d been working for his own father. 

The whole puzzle intrigued Loki. 

This Tony was soft, unsure. Obviously anxious, so much that it pained Loki’s heart. 

Loki wasn’t usually so given to wanting to take someone under his wing, but he wanted to for Tony. He wasn’t even sure why. His own response baffled him. “Here,” he said gently, pulling open a bag of charcoal from the bodega and handing Tony several pieces for the mouth. 

As Tony put finishing touches on their snowman, he spoke for the second time. “Why are you—making these? At night?” Tony kept his gaze trained on the snowman, as if unable to look at Loki. 

“I’ve always loved the snow,” Loki confessed. “And you see over there?” He pointed at a set of apartments. Tony’s eyes flickered towards them, uncertain. “My mother lives on the second floor of that apartment. She’s not able to move very well anymore. I take care of her.” 

Tony turned his head a little more, allowing himself to look. “The window with the icicle lights in it,” Loki clarified. He took a deep breath of the cold air. “I thought she’d enjoy the surprise of waking up tomorrow morning and seeing these outside her window.” 

Tony dared to look at him now. There was a furrow in his brow. Loki smiled, reassuring. “Thank you for your help. I suppose two is enough.” 

“I—can make more.” 

Loki wasn’t able to hide the surprise from his face, but Tony’s held a hint of determination. An odd sense of affection crept in. “I won’t say no to the offer,” Loki said. 

They made five more. Loki talked the entire time, slowly accepting that Tony would offer very little to the conversation, if he said anything at all. Loki found that he didn’t mind much. He could see how hard Tony was trying. Just being there seemed like a great struggle.

Finally, Loki had to give in to the elements. Their faces were flushed, and they’d been out in the cold for ages. “I feel I owe you for your help,” Loki announced. Tony blinked, his hand settling on the snow he’d been packing. “Would you care to come back with me for a cup of hot chocolate?” 

Tony frowned. “Where?” 

“Across the street,” Loki answered. “I live on the first floor. My mother lives on the second.” 

“I—I have to go home,” Tony said. He seemed more flushed than usual. 

“A standing offer then,” Loki said. He dug down into his pocket and pulled out a business card. He was a freelancer writer, and had been for years. He extended it to Tony. “Call me any time.” 

Tony pushed it down into his coat. He nodded. 

“It was a delight to meet you Tony,” Loki said. “Please take me up on the offer.” 

“Ok.” 

Tony’s gaze dropped back to the ground. He stood awkwardly for a moment before grabbing his plastic bag of groceries and swiftly heading back down the side walk. Loki watched him leave, holding his scarf against his face.

He hoped Tony would take him up on it.


	23. "You Look Delicious."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: kidnapping, captivity, dehumanization, sexual content, non-con elements

Tony wasn’t against the whole running and hiking in the woods thing. If anything, he preferred it over the gym at the Avenger’s compound. It was more relaxing to run a trail alone than to the demoralizing reality of Steve never once breaking a sweat as he sent punching bags flying across the floor. Expensive, that.

Tony had broken a sweat today. He was getting a little light headed as he ran, and came to a halt. He took deep, hard breaths as he reached for his water bottle. As Tony sucked it down, he studied the trees around him.

This section of the woods didn’t look familiar. 

He hadn’t been paying much attention. Tony reached for his phone. The GPS failed. Tony frowned. That had never happened. He tried a few more times before giving in. He’d just have to keep going. 

Tony was only a little way further down the trail when he saw a clearing. There was a man standing with his back to Tony, wearing what looked to be a long black coat. Tony would’ve ignored him, but he was lost. “Hey,” Tony called out.

The man turned and looked over his shoulder. Instantly, Tony regretted it. Sharp green eyes flashed at him. A chill ran down Tony’s spine. 

“‘Morning,” Tony pretended at innocent friendliness, hurrying to keep jogging. But the man’s eyes didn’t leave him. 

Tony stumbled over a root. Suddenly he was face down in the dirt, and the man was already standing over him. Tony scrambled to stand, his gauntlet already formed around his hand. 

Tony couldn’t move past a crouch. His legs had locked up. 

His heart began to pound. “It’s hell getting old,” Tony joked, trying again. 

He couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything but kneel there. Cold sweat clung to him. 

“You look delicious.” 

Tony’s heart stopped for a moment. 

The man towered over him, and now that he was up close, Tony could see he wasn’t dressed casually at all. 

It was a long, black robe that hung on the man’s tall frame. Dark beads gleamed in the light, forming patterns of tree branches along his clothing. There were flares of rich green on the underside of his robe, peeking out. But his face was what stood out the most. 

His eyes were painted with thick black eyeliner that angled up towards his eyebrows, green, metallic paint along his lids and hinted at against his cheekbones. There was a golden shimmer to his skin that trailed along his neck before vanishing below the neckline of his robe. 

Tony’s eyes darted away, falling to the long leather boots that went up the man’s legs. Tony felt out of place in his sweat-soaked running clothes. “You sure about that?” Tony joked. “These are my worst workout clothes—”

“—I can smell your fear, you know,” the man’s nostrils flared. He said it with gloating, and Tony was baffled. He tried to move again, but his body was frozen.

“What,” the man said, the word plucked and harsh, “is a human doing in this part of our forest?” 

Tony smiled compulsively, nervously. “Look. The whole LARPing thing is great, don’t get me wrong, but my knees are killing me and I don’t really want to play along.” 

Tony sensed anger. He held the man’s incredulous look, unsure of what he’d stumbled upon. He hoped it was just something as innocent as LARPing. Not something sinister, or someone whose fantasies had been fanned by a drug. He felt threatened, and even more terrified at the thought that maybe he could not rationalize with the man.

“It has been a week since I’ve fed,” the man thought aloud.

Tony tried again. Work knees, work!

“Well,” Tony tried, sweating. “I don’t think I’d recommend myself. I’ve had palladium poisoning, a shit life style, really. My liver’s shot, and—”

“—Silence.” 

Tony’s throat locked up. 

The man stooped down, taking a deep breath at the juncture of Tony’s neck and shoulder. “You _do_ smell delicious,” the man repeated. He eyes passed critically over Tony’s trembling body. A smirk flickered across his lips. “But it seems base to simply eat a human that stumbled into our realm. It’s too easy,” the man said, setting a hand on his hip. “I much prefer to hunt.” He brushed a finger over his lips. “I should enjoy this boon a little differently, shouldn’t I?” 

Tony wasn’t given a chance to respond. In the next moment a hand fisted in his shirt and he was stretched like silly putty through a vortex of light.

Hardwood sent cracking pain up his knees as he was dropped on a floor. They were in a room that looked as though it had been set in a fairytale, with luminescent mushrooms growing on the walls and rows of books on shelves, cluttered with potion bottles. 

The man went over to a shelf and withdrew a slender wooden box. He snapped open the lid, but Tony couldn’t see what was inside. “Let’s make a few things clear, shall we? First, I am not like my adoptive realm and do not make promises in the same way as them. I set the rules, and there is no bartering from you.” He smiled at Tony. It sent a warmth down Tony’s skin that he didn’t want. 

“Second, you may not attack me or bring harm upon me in any way. You simply will not be able to, so do not tire yourself trying.” He smile broadened. “I like the sharp tongue on you. It amuses me so, to hear a human speak in such a way. However, if you are blatantly disrespectful, there will be punishment.” 

Tony was getting dizzy. This was too much, too strange, at once. He’d thought the Avengers missions would prepare him for anything, but apparently not. “Third, you will be my human consort for two weeks, after which I shall return you to your kind. You will owe me a debt for this kindness, but you will not be able to tell anyone of it or what happens here. Do you understand?” 

Tony licked his lips. He found he could speak again. “I owe you for kidnapping me for two weeks?” His head was definitely spinning. “Yeah, that didn’t work out so well for the last group that kidnapped me—”

A hand in his hair suddenly, combing through sweaty curls. “I am not human,” the man said. “You will only leave at my mercy.” The hand in his hair suddenly turned to a grip. “Two weeks,” the man said. “Or would you prefer that I take no debt at the end of it and simply eat you instead? You do look delicious, after all.” 

“I’ll take the debt,” Tony decided, if only because he absolutely believed this man would eat him if he didn’t take this shit bargain. 

“Wonderful.” The hand disappeared. The man set the box aside, and now Tony could see what he held in his hands. It was a golden band, a circle that merged in two pointed curves like horns with a single emerald hanging between them. A collar.

“No. No, no—”

The man’s hand came towards him with the collar and it snapped around his neck as if by magic. Tony felt something move through his body, though he had absolutely no idea what it was, only that it was foreign to him.

“Now let’s get you cleaned, shall we?” 

Tony couldn’t tell how long it was before he was draped in diaphanous robes and back in the forest, except this time lights hung from the trees and hundreds were dancing around them. Tony was sitting on a cushion beside the man’s throne now with a sour expression on his face. He felt like he was stuck on the set of a Midsummer’s Dream.

A part of Tony was categorizing it all away, making observations to bring back to Dr. Strange later. He might know what all of this was, and if the rule was that Tony couldn’t talk about it, that said nothing of Tony hinting at it until someone else understood. 

He was distracted from his observations by two fingers beneath his chin. They pressed with a featherlight touch until Tony looked up at him. 

Now the man wore a golden crown, long and towering from his head. It was incredibly delicate, and the way the metal had been worked fascinated Tony, not that he’d ever say. The man, prince, as Tony’d come to learn, smiled to one side. “There’s no need to be so sullen,” he informed Tony with amusement. “Do you know how many of your kind never are given the chance to return? Ah, but the things you’re getting to see, to know.” 

“I’ve seen more than enough parties in my lifetime to care,” Tony said. 

The prince laughed, a tinkling, airy sound. “I suppose you think you have, don’t you?” 

Tony rolled his eyes and looked away. His gaze landed on a table of sweets and snacks a few meters away. He was always starving post-run, and he hadn't yet gotten to eat. “I guess this is the kind of place where if I eat something, I have to stay forever, isn’t it?” 

The prince lifted an eyebrow. “What would make you think that?” 

Tony shrugged. “I’ve heard tales about this sort of thing.” 

“You know nothing about this sort of thing,” the prince said, cold and certain. And then, as quickly as it’d come on, he was warm and amused again. “Are you hungry?” He raised a hand without waiting for Tony’s answer. 

Two servants immediately fetched food, presenting the prince with a golden tray of sweets and savory pastries. The prince gestured for them to place it beside Tony and leaned back in his throne, content.

It was a while before Tony dared to try one. It melted in his mouth, the delectable taste overwhelming him. He grabbed another without thinking, and realized he’d eaten a dozen before he came to his senses. The prince wore a knowing, amused smile that Tony ignored as he pushed the empty tray away. 

He shifted on his cushion. He was about to ask the prince a question when a slender man in a white coat appeared before them. “Prince Loki,” he greeted, taking a deep bow. Tony grinned, openly gloating at the prince who ignored his reaction. Loki hadn’t been willing to share his name. “It is a pleasure to see you. And who is this?” He asked, white hair catching the light as he looked at Tony. “A human?” 

“Indeed,” Loki said. “I found him wandering in the forest. Can you believe it? In this century?” 

The man smiled at Tony. His skin crawled at the predatory gleam in the man's eyes. “How lucky you are that one of our dear princes found you.” 

Tony felt the sass die in his throat and looked away. He glanced back at Loki. 

Loki was leaning his elbow against his thrown, cradling the side of his face in his hand and looking every last bit the cat that had gotten the canary. “Do you recall the human from the last midwinter revelry?” The man asked. Tony was dubbing him Lucius. He looked like a Malfoy. “Such fun that was.” 

“This one is not such a dancer, I’m afraid,” Loki said, letting out a long sigh. 

Tony didn’t argue with him. He sure as hell didn’t want to dance, and he was glad that Loki had assumed. 

“Ah, but intriguing none the less.” 

Lucius and Loki started talking about some sort of politics then that Tony didn’t care to follow. He’d realized that now that Lucius had come up to them, more and more eyes were turned his way, not all of them kind. Tony didn’t like it at all.

When Lucius left, it was only a minute before a woman in armor appeared. She bowed before directing her attention towards Tony. “What a thrill it is to see you with a human,” she said. Tony picked up on her not liking Loki. Loki’s response was slightly scathing.

“Does it surprise you so?” 

She stood a little taller. “Prince Thor has brought so many. It is simply a thrill to see you doing so as well.” She curtseyed, though it seemed only to wheedle at Loki further. The mention of the other prince had clearly angered him. “We know our princes' appetites, do we not?” 

“Indeed,” Loki said darkly. She left with a cruel smile. 

“So does that mean everyone here wants to eat me?” Tony asked blandly. 

“Different appetites, Tony.” 

Tony didn’t understand how Loki could make him feel so chided. 

The rest of the night was spent the same way, with people coming over and talking to Loki about Tony. Sometimes they’d move on to other subjects, but Tony had the impression that they were all coming over just to check him out. One had even grabbed his arm to inspect it before Loki had charmingly asked them to drop it. 

The night had stretched on forever, too. Tony supposed that had to do with how desperately he wanted to leave. Whenever he got too antsy, Loki would call for another platter of sweets. Tony didn’t mind. He kept getting hungry. 

When Loki finally rose and announced to Tony that they were going back, Tony’s fear marked the air again. They appeared in Loki’s home. Loki pointed at a set of cushions and blankets on the floor that hadn’t been there before. “Rest. You are in desperate need of sleep.” 

“On the floor?” 

“You will be plenty comfortable,” Loki said, insulted. 

On second thought, Tony didn’t want to argue. He turned towards the mountain of cushions. “What are you so afraid of?” Loki asked behind him. “I am not going to eat you now simply because you are back here.” 

Tony answered honestly. “Different appetites,” he said, returning Loki’s words to him.

Loki was quiet for a moment, considering what Tony meant, before he sneered. “Don’t flatter yourself.” He turned with a twirl of his robes and vanished behind a curtain to what Tony could only assume was his bedroom. 

Tony laid out his princess in a pea bed and found that he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillows. 

The next few days dragged on and on, always the same. Loki would ignore him in the room unless Tony bantered with him. Otherwise it was like Tony didn’t exist, not until there was some dance they had to go to. And then suddenly Tony was his pet again, cooed at or assessed or desired by the other people. 

Tony hated it. But he was also starting to understand Loki’s motive. 

When Loki set out breakfast for him the next day, Tony sat up tall. “If you needed a plus one to these parties, you could’ve just asked someone.” Loki stilled. Tony had the sense he was going to be backhanded, but it didn’t stop him. “You’re a good looking guy. I’m sure people would say yes if you asked. You certainly didn’t have to kidnap and put this stupid collar on me—”

“—I do not know whatever gave you the idea that I desired your counsel.” 

“I’m captive. I’ve got time. Normally I charge people a ton for consulting, but for you—” 

“—You know everything, do you?” Loki challenged. There was a spark in his eyes. 

Tony knew Loki better now. He was generally quite mild mannered until provoked, and even when his brother and his brothers’ friends were needling him, it was nothing but sharp, subtle insults in return that often went over their heads. Tony didn’t doubt that Loki could hurt him, but Tony didn’t think he would. Not exactly. 

“I know how it feels to go to a party and feel like you’re entirely alone,” Tony said. “That’s what it is, isn’t it? I’m your pet so that people will come up and talk to you—”

If Loki wasn’t fully across the table, he would’ve backhanded Tony. Instead his magic held the man’s tongue still. “I am not one of the golden,” Loki warned Tony. “I am not held to some sense of honor as the rest you’ve encountered are. Do not provoke me.” 

The moment Tony’s tongue was free, he kept going. “You need a friend. And I’m pissed about this whole arrangement, but you should know that you’re smart and funny and could get one, so spare the next guy you run into from—” Tony’s tongue stilled. He glared at Loki. 

“The truth of my heritage will forever mar me,” Loki said. “Even my status as prince cannot overcome it in the eyes of everyone, and I do not care to indulge you with these things, only to show you how little you understand. I did not ask you for your counsel.” Tony’s tongue didn’t return to him as Loki finished setting out his breakfast with sharp, swift movements. 

Loki left Tony alone, and it was only when he’d vanished behind the curtain that Tony could feel his tongue again. 

Tony sighed, staring down at his plate. 

He could just tell Loki to go fuck himself and wait until it was all over. But Tony always cared just a little too much.

Loki didn’t come for Tony until it was time for that evening’s dance. Tony frowned at the mask in Loki’s hand. “What’s that?” 

“It is a costumed masquerade,” Loki answered. He was dressed in all black. 

“What’re you?” Tony demanded. He didn’t want to be the only one in costume, and he wasn’t sure he believed Loki. 

“You’ll see,” Loki said, distant. He grabbed Tony’s tunic, and for the first time, Tony was aware of just how much physical power Loki had despite his lithe appearance. He manhandled Tony into a shimmering gray set of diaphanous robes with quick, efficient movements. Loki seemed to lack the patience for allowing Tony to dress himself today, or maybe he thought Tony would refuse. In what felt like seconds, Loki was fastening a mask to his face. 

It was trimmed with red feathers around the eyes. Tony brushed a hand through them, marveling at how smooth they were. “You are a dove,” Loki said. Tony glanced up and saw that Loki wore his mask, shimmering black. “Mine is of a swan.” 

“Why that—”

Loki teleported them to the masquerade. He settled on his throne and Tony hesitantly sat down. In seconds, people were coming up, eager to inspect Tony’s costume and speak as though he wasn’t there to Loki. 

And in the few moments no one was there, Loki pointedly ignored everything that Tony said. 

A slow, eerie song began to play, and Tony watched as everyone paired off to dance. He glanced back at Loki. Did he imagine that there was longing in his eyes?

Tony set his jaw. He shouldn’t pity Loki’s loneliness, or worse, empathize. But that didn’t stop him. “Are you going to ask me to dance?” He asked Loki.

“No.” 

“Cool. I don’t mind asking. You want to dance?” 

Loki stared straight ahead. It was impossible to read his expression beneath the mask. Tony stood up. “Sit back—”

Tony reached for Loki’s hand, saw panic in his eyes as Tony grabbed his sleeve. “Please?” Tony tried with a charming smile. 

“What is your human doing?” 

Tony startled. He recognized Prince Thor, but was only given a second to think before Loki grabbed him. Tony was pulled into Loki’s lap, his neck stretched and awkward as Loki’s fingers snagged in his hair. “Being needy, as humans are. Surely you understand?” 

Thor laughed. “I do. Many here would enjoy seeing him sated.” 

“He has earned no such indulgence,” Loki answered, and oddly this made Thor laugh too. He seemed to agree with it, smiling at his brother. 

“It does not serve to indulge their many whims,” Thor advised. “They are insatiable.” 

Loki stroked Tony’s neck. “I shall release him soon. He is, in fact, quite troublesome.” 

Thor scratched at the trimmed beard along his face. “I will gladly bring you another on my next hunt.” 

This seemed to genuinely please Loki. “That would be greatly enjoyed.” 

Thor smiled, but Tony tensed when his gaze drifted downwards. He didn’t think Thor would have been nearly so reserved with him as Loki was. As Thor made his way back onto the dance floor, Loki lowered his face beside Tony’s ear, feigning intimacy. “You have put yourself in a precarious position,” Loki hissed. “I instructed you never to leave your cushion, did I not?” 

“Yeah, but—”

“—And you broke a rule.” Tony huffed, then stilled as he saw a gleam appear in Loki’s eye. “I did promise you punishment if you did not listen,” he whispered, excitement slipping into his voice. “And while they will be disappointed not to see you pleasured now that you have made your intentions towards me clear—”

“—that’s not what I was doing!” Tony whispered back. 

“Tony,” Loki drawled. “How many times must I remind you that you know nothing of this place, of its many rules and customs?” His nails trailed along Tony’s pulse. “As I was saying, if they cannot see your pleasure, they will be just as thrilled by your punishment.” 

“I don’t want—”

“—You make an awful lot of demands for someone who has no basis to do so.” 

Tony knew what was coming for just a few seconds long enough to feel dread in his gut before it happened. Suddenly he was held over Loki’s knees, grasping Loki’s robe out of a fear that he’d topple headfirst to the floor from the towering throne. 

Tony was off balance, and now that he got just how strong Loki was, he just held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut. He heard a faint murmur of excitement in the crowd. He wondered absently if this was more or less embarrassing than drunkenly announcing on stage to everyone that he was pissing in his suit. 

A hand settled against the back of Tony’s neck as the other ruffled his robes up over his back, baring his ass to the cool air. Tony heard an excited squeal somewhere. “Do count,” Loki practically purred. 

“Coun—” Loki’s hand landed on his ass with a dull thud that Tony knew was drowned out by the music around them, but seemed immeasurably loud to his own ears. “Count or I shall make it double.” 

Loki obviously wanted it to be double. “One,” Tony mumbled. “How many—”

“However many I choose,” Loki answered as his hand dug into Tony’s flesh. 

Tony’s face burned hot. He buried it in Loki’s robes and muttered. The mask he wore helped in a way, but everyone knew who the human was. At least it let Tony pretend. “Two. Three. Four,” he mumbled. 

Loki’s fingers traced over the heat that radiated from his pale skin. Tony wasn’t sure that Loki was holding anything back. He massaged his fingers down into the gentle spaces between Tony’s vertebra in his neck. “How lovely,” Loki murmured happily. 

Tony shuffled a little at the pause. He wondered with distant terror if Loki could feel the hardness growing against him. As the next few blows landed, Tony dutifully counted up to eleven. On the twelfth, he let out a cry, startled from his lungs. 

“Okay,” he gasped, tears falling. “I get it. You won or whatever. Stop. It’s too mu—thirteen! Thirteen, ok?” 

Loki turned him over, Tony’s ass stinging as it pressed to Loki’s lap. Loki cradled him against his chest, stroking his fingers over Tony’s cheeks. He licked his fingers, tongue lasciviously lapping away the tears. “That was such fun,” Loki muttered to him. Tony’d never heard such pleasure in Loki’s ordinarily melancholy voice. 

Tony shuffled uncomfortably, trying to avoid the burn. “You went a little too hard there,” he complained. 

“It was a punishment,” Loki reminded him. He glanced pointedly down. “Even if you enjoyed it.”

Tony shoved against his chest in retaliation. He shouldn’t have. He was back over Loki’s knees in an instant, with two sharp swats for Loki’s wounded pride. Tony openly sobbed, a cry falling out. He made the mistake of looking to the side. He glimpsed a woman with her hand over her mouth, cheeks flushed with arousal. He hid his face again. 

But Loki didn’t allow it. Tony was drawn back up. This time he was silent as Loki collected his tears with slightly cruel fingers, lapping them up and smearing his cheeks with saliva as he went for more. Tony was uncomfortably hard. He tried to move his legs to a less compromising position, not that the costume was doing him any favors. Loki’s finger dug up behind his mask to grasp another tear as he breathed out a wet sob. Tony squeezed his eyes closed.

The show was over, and now Loki’s fan club was back at the throne. Or, Tony guessed, it was really his fan club, but Loki got the attention. 

“He looks positively worked over.” 

“Don’t reward him. I love watching them wish for it though, don’t you?” 

“Such beautiful cries he makes, your royal highness.” 

Tony buried his face against Loki’s chest. He wasn’t sure why that was allowed, but a fresh wave of arousal swept through him as Loki angled his hips and drew his robes so that the onlookers could see his cherry stained flesh. 

It felt like forever that they stayed. Tony was still hard when Loki eventually brought them home, gently laying Tony down on his mound of pillows but snickering when Tony hurried to roll off his ass and onto his stomach instead. Tony didn’t have anything biting to say. 

He glanced up at Loki, who seemed to know it too. There was a warning in his eyes, and a contentment beneath that which Tony ignored. Loki left through his curtain. 

No sooner had he than Tony’s hand fisted around his cock. Two tugs and his come painted one of the rosy pink cushions white. Tony slumped over, panting. He fell asleep in his bedraggled costume. 

When Tony woke, there was a biting cool sensation on his ass. The night before came back embarrassingly quick. Tony looked back over his shoulder to see that Loki had covered him in some sort of gel. 

Tony pushed himself up. The table was set with his breakfast. It felt late. Loki wasn’t there. Tony went to the curtain, but his hand simply went through the fabric. 

Tony pulled off his mask and ate his breakfast, pained at the feelings of arousal and lust that flooded him each time that Loki crossed his mind. 

Tony walked back over to his bed. The rosy pink cushion was gone. Tony gingerly lowered himself back down. As thoughts of the night before flooded his mind again, another cushion ended up going the same way.

It was hours before Loki returned. He gave Tony a knowing stare, his nostrils flaring. “I’m afraid it’s time to take you home.” 

“It’s been seven days,” Tony said. Loki smiled primly, shaking his head. 

“Not on your realm.” Tony shook a little as Loki walked up to him. “I enjoyed last night immensely,” Loki murmured, stroking his hand through Tony’s hair. His fingers slipped beneath the collar, pulling it free. “If you wish for a repeat, you need only speak my name in the forest. I will answer your call, but only if you come alone.” 

Now that the moment was here, Tony wasn’t sure what to say to him. Loki extended his jogging clothes to him. 

Tony stripped right there, pulling them on. It seemed that they’d been laundered, and Tony winced at himself as he realized it pleased him that they smelled like Loki. Tony swallowed. “Thanks for the strange and baffling experience,” Tony said. “Can’t say I enjoyed the kidnapping and what not.” 

A laugh bubbled up from Loki. “You weren’t as miserable as you let on.” Tony opened his mouth, only to have fingers press to it. “I have no interest in your preaching human morality. Recall you owe me a debt.” 

Tony scowled, ignoring the urge to lick the fingers against his lips. 

Loki said nothing more, and Tony found himself standing in the field from before. Except now it was pouring rain, and Loki was no where to be found.

“Asshole,” Tony mumbled. 

He stumbled out of a ring of mushrooms, mud oozing into his sneakers as he headed back towards the trail.

Immediately, Tony recognized the path. How’d he gotten lost in the first place? Tony knew the trail mark. Tony turned back. The field was gone.

He stretched. He wondered what all Strange would have to say about it.


	24. Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pure angst.

Loki curled his arms around his knapsack, everything he’d packed for the overnight trip heavy in his arms. He stood beside a pillar, watching the early light of dawn rise through the trees. Asgard’s morning air was crisp, clean, as though it had rained the night before.

In the distance, five horses grew ever smaller against the horizon.

Loki’s heart sank deeper and deeper into his chest. 

Had they forgotten him? But how could they? It is not as if they hadn’t agreed to meet at this spot here, at dawn. Loki wasn’t even late. If anything, he was reasonably early. Yet they’d already saddled up their horses, and ignored his in its stall. 

They’d chosen to go on the camping trip without him.

Loki tried to find excuses for them, tried to stay from the painful thought for as long as he could. When he could no longer hold it back, he felt the heat roll down his cheek. He held his breath.

Once, he’d hidden his magic. Once, he’d pretended to lose it, to not know it. He’d tried to be a warrior, the same as all the others, and it had made no difference.

So he had called his magic back to him and embraced it with his whole heart, the only love he’d ever know.

Loki slung the knapsack over his shoulder. He hoped he would not run into his mother. Her knowing eyes, pitying him for being left by his own brother and friends, was too much. Instead, Loki went to the stables.

He stroked the fur of his noble black horse, its form tall and lithe. He rubbed its head, muttering kindnesses to it. 

Loki would not fit in on Asgard. After eight hundred years, he’d come to accept that fact. It didn’t stop the pain of realizing his beloved brother had left him for the approval of his friends once again, or stop Loki from wondering what part of himself was so distasteful to others. What made them want to leave him behind. 

Loki glanced up from his drink as he sensed Tony beside him.

Tony wore a concerned, slightly disapproving expression. He was dressed in one of his finest suits, as always. The crowd chattered happily around them. “Aren’t you going to say hello to anyone?” Tony asked.

Loki looked back down at his drink. “I did. With you, earlier.” He knew what Tony was getting at. “I’m perfectly content on my own, Tony. I don’t need you to mother hen me. Go about your gala and stop worrying about me.” Loki twirled his drink, watching the bubbles fizz. 

Tony’s frustrated sigh drifted towards him. “Lo,” Tony warned. “You can’t just stay in the corner all night. You’ve talked about meeting others on Midgard,” Tony said, voice hopeful as he went for supportive. “This is a good place to do that.” 

Loki’s chest turned heavy. He still didn’t look at Tony, as if doing that would will his overprotective boyfriend away. “You wanted me to meet others,” Loki said.

Tony tilted his head slightly. “Yeah, but I thought you did too?” Loki took a sip. “I know you hate these kinds of things, but what if I introduce you to people?” 

“You have,” Loki reminded him. He wanted this conversation to end. Finally, his sharp eyes flicked to Tony’s. “The only people here that are going to _befriend_ me are ones that want my influence over you or to be ingratiated to an Asgardian.” 

Tony frowned. Loki loathed the thoughtfulness in Tony’s eyes, hated how painful that softening expression was to witness. “I know how that feels, but I’ve met good people at these things, Lo. Seriously. They’re not all the power hungry type. There are the people that truly believe in this cause, and the people that support them, too.” 

Loki looked away. “I know how this goes. I am not particularly made to fit in here, Tony. I am fine where I am.” 

“You can’t try making a friend?” Loki’s jaw set. “I became your friend,” Tony said.

Loki gave him a withering look. “You chose to pursue me. Most don’t.” Loki bit back on telling Tony that Tony had only pursued him because he was a hot piece of ass, as Tony would put it, and ended up sticking around. 

Tony set a hand on Loki’s arm. He didn’t seem to know what to say. After a moment he simply squeezed his arm. “Ok, Lo. We can catch up later.” Loki didn’t like the sound of that.

“Stop worrying, Tony. I mean it when I say I’m fine.” 

Tony shook his head. “Easier said than done, babe.” He gave Loki a heavy smile before leaving him on his own. 

Loki sighed, glaring down at his drink. Tony didn’t see the way that people looked at him in fear, as though he might try to take over New York. Tony didn’t understand what over a thousand years had taught Loki.

He wished for his stables, wished for one of his horses, that he could leave for a ride and try to forget the whole evening.


	25. Doctor

Peter twisted his shirt in his hand, chewing his lip and wondering if Ned was pulling his leg. But Ned wouldn’t do that. Not about this, at least. Ned knew how anxious Peter was about it. Ned was the one that had encouraged him to give it a try. Ned wasn’t sure if was real or not though, which meant Peter was going off a rumor that was passed around their college.

Of course Ned wasn’t here. He was safely behind a computer desk, one phone call away if Peter needed him. Peter sort of wished he’d come too.

Peter stared and the painted red door. It was sort of what he’d expected. A doorway, in an alley with only one other shop, a bar with dark windows far on the other end. A neon sign buzzed beside the door, flashing red, yellow, and pink against the wet pavement.

_The Love Doctors_ the sign read. 

Peter decided he’d come this far. He took one deep breath, then walked in.

The room was much larger than expected. It was huge, really. Dazzling. It was also the tackiest place that Peter had ever seen. An elegant sort of tacky, but tacky all the same. The floor was made of red and white carpeting in the shape of a massive heart. There were golden couches and low set tables. Peter noticed two golden thrones at the center, though they didn’t stand out at first. There were a few doors as well. Pink light was cast from behind a massive bar on the far wall.

Peter frowned. No one was there.

It seemed like a place built to hold a lot of people, so where were they? 

Peter glanced around the doorway, belatedly noticing the golden bell. A sign, the size of a business card, had a handwritten note. _Ring for assistance._

Peter’s hand shook as he rang it. 

A moment later, a voice yelled from the back. “On my way,” a man grandly yelled. In seconds he was striding towards Peter, a debonair smile on his lips. He had rakish brown hair and wore a pure white suit and red glasses that were bedazzled with red rhinestones. He extended his hand. “Dr. Stark,” he introduced himself. “And you are?” 

“Peter Parker,” Peter said quickly. “My friend said he’d heard about you guys, that you can help people solve relationship problems—can you? I just. I have some questions that I don’t want to ask my aunt, and she’s all I’ve got, so, yeah.” 

A sympathetic coo from the side of the room and Peter turned to see a man behind the bar, watching him with a compassionate frown as he leaned against his hand. There was no way he’d been there before. 

He wore an all black suit, although golden earrings dangled against his long black hair, his pink glasses lending him a playful air that Peter found bewildering. Who were these people? 

Peter looked back to Dr. Stark. The man was watching him with intelligent eyes. “We’re good at answering questions.” He nodded his head towards the bar. “Why don’t you grab a seat?” 

Peter nodded, not knowing what else to do. He didn’t sit beside the other man, but that man came and stood beside him anyway as Dr. Stark sat down beside him. “I’m Dr. Odinson,” he said, an amused flicker in his eyes, like he knew he made Peter uncomfortable and found it funny. 

“Hi,” Peter offered. 

“So,” Dr. Stark said. He was warm, and Peter found him glad to hear the man talk. “What kind of questions have you come here with?” 

“Well, my girlfriend MJ is going into forensics, right? And there’s this program opening for her that she’l be amazing for, just amazing,” Peter said, talking more with his hands than he needed to. “But it means we’d have to be long distance for a year or two. And I just—I don’t know how that’s going to work.” 

Dr. Odinson and Dr. Stark exchanged a soft look. Peter hoped that it meant they were going to help him.

“Well,” Dr. Stark said, “let’s start with what your fears about it are.” 

Two hours later, Peter was leaving with a much lighter chest, and much higher hopes for his future with MJ. He didn’t know why he’d found it all so daunting before. They’d walked him through it, and even answered the questions he was embarrassed to ask without making him feel stupid. 

Loki stretched his back before leaning back against the bar top, his head in his hand again. “I do enjoy the ones like that,” he said. 

Tony was smiling. He’d found a soft spot for the kid, Loki could tell. “Do you remember when we went long distance?” 

“How could I forget?” Loki said, a hint of nostalgia in his voice. Tony set his hand over Loki’s on the bar. Loki gave him a slow smile. “How could I forget those video calls?” 

Tony laughed. “Don’t worry. If you ever do, I’ve got them recorded.” 

“Oh, I know.” 

Tony gently rubbed the soft spaces between Loki’s fingers. “Lo,” he said, voice still light and bouncy from helping guide the kid. “Have I reminded you that I love you lately?” 

“Only every day.” Loki’s earrings bobbed as he tilted his head. “Have I reminded you that I love you lately?” 

“Only every minute.” Tony laughed, looking away. “It’s nice when it’s slow like this. I wish we’d get more consultations like that. The kama sutra class is killing my back.” 

“So you’ve said,” Loki teased. “I’ve offered to demonstrate with—”

“—It doesn’t hurt that much,” Tony protested. Loki laughed. He’d only been kidding Tony. “You think we’ll get more kids looking for help navigating their relationships?” 

“He said it was a campus rumor, didn’t he? Hopefully more will come then,” Loki said, as if the entire place wasn’t charmed to draw people in. Their business had never been hurting.

“Yeah,” Tony said. He let go of Loki’s hand. “Maybe we could squeeze in a class for younger people before out the marriage counseling class in the morning. Teach them how to avoid the mistakes that are easy to make when you’re young.”

“Maybe,” Loki mused. Loki grabbed a set of glasses out from beneath the bar. “Would you like anything, Tony?” 

“Make me that sugar thing you love so much.” 

“Coming right up,” Loki said. 

A little while later they were sipping cocktails, chatting amicably when the door opened and new clients walked in. “Showtime,” Tony said with a wink to Loki, leaving his chair.


	26. Bargain

The toy soldier wasn’t the sort that would ordinarily catch Loki’s eye. His paint was scratched and his chest dented, as though he’d taken no care of himself in battle. His hat was missing, a wave of lush brown hair in its place, the armored man’s cheeks flushed pink. 

Ordinarily, Loki would be drawn to others at the midwinter ball — one of the gossamer sugar fairies, or swan maidens, or lithe cavaliers that attended each year. Not a common soldier with boots and hands marred by soot.

Loki straightened his own costume, a fine suit in the style of one of the courtiers, with knee-high black boots and gold stud earrings, his iridescent dragonfly-like wings held low behind his back. 

The soldier had caught his eye though, in the way that he seemed to be talking to everyone with a spark in his eye. It struck Loki as mischief, and once he’d made that connection, well, it was only natural for him to corner the strange tin man. 

“What brings you to the ball,” Loki asked, raising an eyebrow as the solider looked up at him. “Looking to give your heart away, perhaps, dear soldier?” 

“I am _not_ a solider,” the man snapped back, as vehement as he could be without losing the natural air of charm around him. “I’m an inventor, and—” He paused, shooting Loki a wicked smile, all pride and sharp teeth, “I don’t have a heart to give away. I’m afraid I don’t have one.” 

Loki’s eyes widened, his wings flaring with curiosity for a heartbeat before he pulled them back. “My dearest apologies,” he started, extending his hand out towards the man, “I am Prince Loki, heir to the Land of Frost and Snow.” 

The man surprised him yet again by taking his hand and pressing a kiss to it, looking up at him through thick eyelashes. “And I am Anthony Edward Stark, inventor of the House of Iron and Metal. But you may call me Tony.” His fingers grazed Loki’s as he pulled away.

It vexed Loki, the way that made his own heart race. So many came to the ball looking to give their heart away, or have it stolen away, but he’d never yet met one that lasted more than a night, and he was shocked at his attraction to the unruly inventor. 

“A prince, huh,” Tony said. “You wouldn’t happen to be able to lend me the Rat King’s ear, would you? I’ve been seeking it all night. He’s a hard king to reach.” 

“Depends on what you need it for,” Loki lied. 

“A fire,” Tony said. “That burns ever bright. I’ve heard there are mages that can create it, but he’s placed an embargo on them for it, you know how it is, politics etc. I want it for my forge,” Tony finished, glancing down at his burnt nails. “I am tired of stoking the fire.” 

“What if I knew a mage that could give you the fire directly instead?” 

Tony set a hand on his hip. “I’m listening.” 

Loki’s eyes brightened. He leaned over the man, intrigued. “First, tell me what happened to your heart.” 

The man shrugged. “I’m not so capable of love. I’ve been told I don’t have a heart.” 

“I find that hard to believe.” 

The man laughed. It was sharp, unkind. “You’ve just met me.” 

Loki nodded, oblivious to the way his wings had flared out from him as his curiosity burned brighter. The man was like a little flame, and despite being of a land of frost and snow, Loki had no fear of a fire. “Indeed.” The man tilted his head slightly, a wary curiosity in the motion. “Do you know what the price would be, for such a fire that burns always, held in a hearth like a soul in a body?” 

“I’d think it would depend on the mage that asked the price,” Tony answered. 

“Yes, and as there is an embargo placed on the mages you seek right now, their fire is beyond your reach, and yet a mage capable of such a feat stands right before you.” 

“You?” Tony blinked, glancing away at Loki’s wings. “But—”

“—You’ll find there is little magic that I cannot do,” Loki said, lowering his wings as Tony stared at them. 

“Fine,” Tony said, suspicious. “What’s the price?” 

Loki smiled, but it was warm and real, and sent heat to pool into Tony’s stomach. “Let me seek that heart of yours, metal man,” Loki said, surprising himself. “If I can find it, I can keep it.” 

Emotions flickered over Tony’s face— surprise, awe, suspicion, fear, longing— before settling on a pleased, daring spark in his eyes. He held out his hand. “Deal.” 

Loki took it in a firm handshake. “I look very much forward to finding it.” 

“I hope you can,” Tony said, though it came out quieter than he meant. “I hope you can.” 

“Oh, I’m sure I will,” Loki promised. 

He was not wrong.


	27. Edging

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: explicit sexual content

It had taken Tony a while to catch on, but he’d soon learned that overnight trips to Asgard to visit the in-laws put Loki in a mood that always wound up putting Tony in some compromising position in the bedroom. 

Tony didn’t mind when Loki’s domineering streak came out. Tony enjoyed it. And it wasn’t like Tony minded submitting. They both waxed and waned in a balance that worked itself out. It was just that it was funny, that was all.

Tony was getting it down to a science.

A passing comment from one of Thor’s friends here, an aside with Loki’s mother, a look from Odin, and Tony could sense the exact tipping point when it all became too much for Loki. Sometimes in those moments, Tony swore he could feel his ass getting sore already.

Not that Tony could talk Loki out of these visits or get him through the worst of his emotions towards his family. Tony had certainly tried. 

The thing about it was that it was exhilarating too, in the way an approaching storm was. It’d be intense and possibly destructive, but there was a thrill to experience it all the same. 

And it was never like Loki used the same technique. That’s why it’d taken Tony a little while to catch on and realize he was Loki’s pressure release valve on these trips. 

They’d retired for the evening. Tony knew the moment Loki closed the door that it was coming. He sat down on a couch and tried to hide his excitement.

Loki’s hand stilled on the handle. He glanced back over his shoulder, as if recalling something important. “There is a feast tomorrow evening. I’d like you to wear something Asgardian. Your Midgardian status symbols are charming, but they’re lost on the people here. Let me dress you in something more appropriate.” 

Tony grinned, laying his arm along the back of the couch. “I don’t think your leathers will fit me, babe, and you never like it when I wear your helmet.” 

Loki took long, self-assured steps towards him. The power in his stride went straight to Tony’s cock. This was going to be good. 

He’d play along. It didn’t work if Tony was too compliant. There had to be some struggle involved. Loki needed to feel powerful, and Tony was happy to give that to him.

Loki paused beside the couch, his imperial gaze set off towards the double doors leading out of the receiving room and into his bedroom and wardrobe. “Strip.” 

“Aren’t you going to let me see what I’m wearing first?” 

Loki turned to him with a sharp smile, his gaze hard. “If you are not bare by the time I come back here, then I will strip you myself.” 

“Is that a promise?” Tony purred.

Loki smiled in spite of himself. “Yes, Stark, it is.” 

He was back to Stark now. Tony watched Loki stalk away, already unbuttoning his suit jacket. He cared if it got torn, but the rest he couldn’t care less about. He set the suit jacket over the back of a different chair. He set his shoes and watch there as well, unwilling to allow them to be casualties to their game. 

Then he draped himself dramatically across the couch and waited.

Loki returned with an armful of clothes. The moment he saw Tony, he sighed and flung them on another chair. Tony’s cock twitched as Loki rounded in on him, straddling him in a moment. He grasped Tony’s tie, and Tony had to bend his neck up with it. “What were my instructions?” 

Loki’s hand was too far back on his tie and the angle was too wrong for Tony to mouth at his fingers the way he wanted to. “Strip,” Tony repeated. He gave Loki a lascivious smile. “Or you would strip me yourself.” 

Tony barely had a moment to process before Loki was tearing his shirt open, buttons clattering across the floor. He was relieved his suit jacket was out of the danger zone. As Loki shuffled back and Tony’s belt buckle clattered, Loki let out a condescending little sound. “Already?” Loki asked, wrapping a hand around Tony’s half-hard cock. “We haven’t even begun to play.” 

Tony lifted his hips up and Loki yanked his pants off him, breathing out with a shudder. “What can I say? The game’s pretty obvious, babe.” 

Loki’s hand returned to his cock, a certain, still grip. His thumb stroked slowly over the head. “And what game is that, Stark?” He asked softly, daring him.

“Fuck me?” Tony asked with hopeful enthusiasm, knowing that part of Loki’s fun would be to deny him, and still do it.

Loki laughed. It was slightly mocking, but it was music to Tony’s ears anyway. “Perhaps if you are very, very good.” 

“Mmm,” Tony hummed noncommittally. He folded his arms behind his head. Loki’s hands grasped his hips instead, hands dragging down them possessively before letting go. Loki sat up. 

“I want you to wear a full ensemble tomorrow,” Loki said, serious. He stood. 

When Tony saw the clothes he began pulling out of the pile, genuine displeasure struck. Tony scrambled to sit up. “Not the straps and the leather—” 

Loki was already back over him, forcing a flimsy excuse for a shirt on over his head. “Tony,” he said in mock-sweetness. “You adore leather—”

“When you wear it! Not when it’s fifty pounds and goes on like a finger trap—”

“—Hush—”

“No!” Tony said, genuinely struggling now, and distractedly aroused by how immense Loki’s strength was when he wanted it to be.

They would up with Tony pinned helplessly to the floor, Loki smiling as Tony glowered up at him. Rings of green magic held Tony’s wrists to the ground. Loki was buckling in the final straps and lovingly smoothing his fingers over the fabric.

The brown and amber tinted leathers accentuated how sculpted Tony’s muscle was, made Loki think of how much Tony’s suit disguised the beauty of his fit body beneath. 

There were golden accents in the design, vambraces that echoed Loki’s own, a deep red cape sprawled beneath Tony that was a few hues deeper than his suit. “Tony,” Loki purred. “You are gorgeous.” 

“Yeah, I know you’ve got a sweet spot for me in this Asgardian mess, but it’s not a breathable fabric.” 

“A sweet spot,” Loki said. He unlaced Tony’s pants, freeing his cock in the same motion. 

“That’s just obscene,” Tony protested, head rolling back as he stared up at the ceiling. “You can’t get to my chest without going through five buckles, but my dick’s free in point two seconds—”

Loki’s smile was pure gloating. “You lie,” Loki said. “I think you have a sweet spot for this attire.” 

Tony wouldn’t admit that it was actually a sweet spot for being manhandled to the floor. He felt his cheeks grow hot as Loki’s slender fingers stroked down his semi-hard cock. “Y’know, actually, go right ahead. If I get come on this, I won’t be able to wear it tomorrow—”

“—Won’t you though?” Loki asked, his expression positively mischievous as one brow slowly lifted upwards. “We both know that I can magic it away, but we’ll both know what was there before. You especially,” he added, stroking Tony’s flushed cock. 

“Like it’ll be the first thing I’ve worn that’s had come washed off it from you.” 

“Indeed,” Loki agreed, and somehow it didn’t make Tony feel like he’d won. Tony’s gaze dropped back to the ceiling, and for a brief, flickering moment, he questioned the choices that had lead up to him saying something like that so casually. The thought was washed away the moment a tongue laved against his cock.

Tony’s head snapped up. He wouldn’t say he squirmed, but he did, his hips rocking as Loki stared up at him, his lips wrapped around Tony’s cock with daring in his eyes. 

Tony was fully hard now, sweat beginning to prick his skin where he was beginning to overheat in the ridiculous garb. 

With a soft, wet pop, Loki sat up. He licked his lips. “I think,” he said, staring down at his hand on his knee, “that if you should like me to finish this, you should have to beg for me to allow you to wear this tomorrow.” 

Tony was gearing up to say something smartassed when Loki’s mouth enveloped him again, the searing heat causing a moan to fall from Tony’s stubborn lips. He clenched his hands into fists. He liked to pretend that he was just graciously giving into Loki’s wants to make him feel better, but it was more than that. He didn’t want to wear the stupid garb, and he didn’t want to beg. 

Loki’s hand gently cupped one of his balls, the pressure sending a jolt through Tony. Loki could do such wonderful things to him. He knew Tony’s body probably better than Tony did. 

Tony’s toes curled. Loki hummed, the vibration against Tony making him groan, fighting himself not to just shove himself up into Loki’s mouth. Suddenly, he knew it was coming. Even before Loki did it, Tony could sense when he was getting close enough that Loki would draw back. And he did.

Loki brushed a hand against his lips this time, his spit there vanishing in a gesture that wouldn’t look nearly so elegant on anyone else. “If I didn’t know better,” Loki said, “I’d think you’d enjoyed holding back on begging. It’s a shame. You’re so good at it.” 

He moved then to sit beside Tony’s chest, placing a hand over his pounding heart. “Tony,” he said, something wicked and playful lurking in his smile. He bent down. His lips were soft, tender. Adoring in a way that made tears prick at Tony’s eyes when they weren’t playing games like these. 

But they were now, and Tony wouldn’t be Tony if he didn’t fight back. He grasped Loki’s bottom lip, harshly sucking at it, swallowing the laugh Loki made. Loki grasped the back of Tony’s head, cradling Tony’s head in his hands. As Tony’s tongue slid into his mouth, Loki moaned obscenely loud before breaking free. 

Belatedly, Tony realized the moan had been to tease him. He blinked as Loki’s thumbs grazed over his cheeks. “Ask me, Tony.” 

“Ask you what?” 

The sensation of Loki’s mouth around his cock began again, even though Loki hadn’t moved. Tony kicked his legs, whimpering. “Fuck! I hate when you do this, it’s freaky and—” He groaned, his eyes rolling back. And stupid good. He left that part out. 

“Beg,” Loki demanded, the command deep and sure.

“Fu—will you at least, I don’t know—” Tony squeezed his eyes shut. He loved this, even as he hated it. Loki surrounding him, and Tony acutely aware of how much he trusted him. How much he loved him. Was it really so hard to beg? “Fine. Fuck, you win. Please, babe, let me wear this fashion crime of an outfit tomorrow—” The sensation stopped. 

That was worse. Way worse.

Tony struggled not to roll his eyes. He certainly didn’t open them for two reasons. One, Loki would be smug as hell, Tony’d seen it enough times to know. Two, the adoration underneath that would split Tony’s chest open and make his begging too sincere and sentimental. “This outfit,” Tony tried again, knowing he’d gotten it right when the sensation resumed. “That is gorgeous, please, for the love of fuck, just let me come and I promise I’ll wear it for you tomorrow without being a dick about it—”

Loki's lips against his again, and Tony didn’t even realize he was coming at first, his hips arching up as Loki’s hand stroked him. 

Harsh panting filled Tony’s ears as he dared to open his eyes. Loki was watching him, a bright, pleased spark in his eyes. Tony’s chest warmed. He’d missed that look. Loki had been so fucking unhappy since they’d landed on Asgard, but now he was back, and Tony’d missed him. 

For all that Tony tried not to be sappy, he blurted it out anyway. “I love you.” 

Loki bent down and kissed him. “Ah,” he muttered. “But will you still, if I do that again?” 

Tony barked out a surprised laugh. “Yeah,” he breathed. “Yeah, I will.” 

As Loki’s lips returned, Tony knew Loki would make good on that, and he’d love him through every minute of it anyway.


	28. Embrace

“Tony.” 

Loki’s whispered voice barely registered in Tony’s ear. He didn’t react to the hand that gently set on his shoulder. “Tony, wake up.” The hand gave a soft squeeze. Dimly, Tony began to rise from sleep. “Tony.” 

Panic struck through Tony as his mind came on board, jolting him awake with a full body flinch. “What’s wrong?” Tony asked, starting to sit up, his mind filled with Avengers missions and crises. 

“Nothing,” Loki said soothingly, trailing his hand down Tony’s arm. “Nothing. But you’ll want to see this,” Loki said, grasping Tony’s hand. “Come,” he said, excitement slipping into his voice. 

Tony stumbled as he got up, Loki swiftly, wordlessly catching and righting him all while directing him out of their bedroom. They took the stairs out to the room with the balcony. 

“Lo, what—” Tony started to complain, the cold night air getting to him. Loki’s face was turned up towards the night sky, suddenly youthful and kind. Tony pressed closer to him for warmth. 

“—It’s starting. You’ll see,” Loki answered, wrapping an arm around Tony to keep him warm. 

Before Tony could ask, he saw the first one.

A star, streaking across the entire sky, in a flash of red, green, blue, and white. Tony held still, struck by surprise. It wasn’t the shooting star that surprised him, but the sound.

It was _singing_. 

Loki combed his fingers through Tony’s hair, not looking away. A breeze caught his hair, drawing the curling ends away from his face. “It’s a meteor shower,” Loki said, knowing full well that Tony’s mind would be racing with a million questions. “I think you’ve been exposed to my magic long enough now that you can sense them too.” 

“They sing,” Tony stated, his voice sore and cracking with sleep. 

Loki nodded. “Yes,” he said. “They do.” His other hand came up to bury his cold fingers against Tony’s warm scalp, scratching little circles in. “I heard them coming and did not wish for you to miss them.” 

Tony let out a soft little laugh. “You should’ve just set an alarm clock to get us up. I would’ve gotten up to see them with you.” 

Loki looked at him in surprise. “They’re not timed.” 

“Of course they are,” Tony said. “I can tell you when all the meteor showers are coming for the next year.” 

Loki shook his head. “Not these.” 

Tony pressed his lips together. This was definitely one of those magic things that he’d have to talk with Loki in circles in to parse out, and right now he’d just woken up, and he was enjoying this moment with Loki. Questions could wait.

Instead he let his head drop against Loki’s chest, his honey brown eyes drifting up towards the stars singing overhead. Loki wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling Tony closer to him. 

“You know,” Loki began, voice soft, but Tony knew him so well that he could sense the teasing lurking beneath it, “now that you can hear these, I can take you on magic-themed vacations without you complaining that you’re bored.” 

Tony let out a huff. Of course. He rolled his eyes. “And you can listen to me ask you a million questions until you turn me into a frog again.” 

Loki chuckled, the sound vibrating against Tony’s chest. It made Tony smile in spite of himself. “Thor particularly dislikes that spell too.” 

“Also,” Tony said, not really wanting to ruin the moment but also unable to let the last word go, “How does me being around your magic have an exposure effect where now I can hear it? Is that some weird magical osmosis thing?” 

Loki hummed. “Magical osmosis,” he muttered, the hand in Tony’s hair stilling. “There are many Asgardians that don’t have the capacity to wield magic, but growing up on our world, they still learn to identify it. I’d always thought it would be the same for you. It’s exposure,” Loki decided. 

A particularly loud star flew overhead then, its beautiful song sending goosebumps along Tony’s skin.

Tony wanted to enjoy this. Questions had to wait, he told himself. “Ok.” 

Loki breathed out a soft laugh. He knew Tony had more questions. He swayed with Tony a little then, a rare smile on his lips as he watched the sky. 

For a while they simply stood there, watching. 

Finally, Tony mumbled, “Thanks for waking me up.” He was glad he got to see this. 

“I do believe that is the only time you’ve said that to me.” 

Tony grinned. “I mean, yeah. Probably.” 

｡･:*:･ﾟ✫ 


	29. Distance

Thor was uncharacteristically quiet as he let Tony into the house. Tony patted his arm with a simple, “Thanks, man,” before heading up the stairs that Thor had pointed him to.

Tony’d been in the Odinson house dozens of times, but it didn’t feel as familiar as it should’ve when Tony’s hand hovered over the glossy banister and his feet pounded up the carpeted steps. His MIT hoodie strings swung with the motion.

Technically he was home “on break”, but Tony didn’t really get breaks. He was working on two masters. He was really only “on break” as an excuse to see Loki. 

Loki’s door was cracked ajar when Tony got there. He hovered beside the doorframe, peering at the piles of papers and books on the floor. He knocked on the wood. “Hello, hello!” 

Papers shuffled. A few moments later the door was pulling back and Loki’s face was lighting up with surprise. “Tony,” he said, mouth slack. His brows pulled together. “You said you weren’t going to be home until Christmas.” 

Thor had been right. Loki didn’t look good. Tony’s stomach churned as he saw the change. Loki’s hair, ordinarily slicked by one product or another, was a sheen-free, dull frizz of half-formed black waves. His skin was pallid, and though his faded green eyes were as gorgeous as ever, they stood in contrast to the red streaks of blood vessels across the whites of his eyes.

He was wearing a familiar white band shirt that Tony’d tried to glimpse his nipples through more than once if Tony was telling the truth. Tony swallowed. “Well, I mean, two weeks before Halloween, Christmas time, what’s the difference?” 

Loki gave him one of his skeptical, wry smiles before stepping back from the door. He hovered awkwardly for a moment, and then did something that sent alarm bells singing in Tony’s head. Loki drew in for an uncoordinated hug, pressing his frail frame against Tony’s. It took Tony a moment to reciprocate. 

When Loki pulled back, he didn’t act like it was a strange gesture from him. “It’s good to see you,” he said. Tony realized he was biting his lip and let go. 

“You too.” Tony wasn’t sure what to say now that he was here. He’d known, on an intellectual level, that Loki wasn’t doing well. Loki had moved back home after years of wanting nothing but to move out and was finishing up his classes at the local college. Thor had said he rarely left his room, not even to eat. 

Loki gestured towards the couch in his room. Tony had to navigate his way around yet more books and a few canvases and brushes. 

Loki’s room had always been filled with books —he enjoyed science as much as Tony, but he also loved studying the occult in a way that Tony couldn’t connect with. Still, Loki had tried to get Tony interested, lending him book after book. Loki painted too, although it seemed that everything in the room now was an under-painting. Tony sat on the couch beside a pair of stuffed rams that he hadn’t seen before. 

Loki settled on a floor cushion across from him. 

“How’ve classes been going?” Loki asked, picking at a loose piece of embroidery thread. 

“Oh. Good! Yeah, they’re a killer but they’re not hard, you know? They’re just a lot. When’re you going to come up and see me again? Rhodey likes when you visit.” 

Loki’s hand tightened on the thread. “I’ve got a lot of class work.” He hesitated. “But maybe I can come up during winter break.” 

“Yeah, no, that’d be cool.” He glanced across Loki’s room, realizing it was even messier than he’d first realized. He didn’t think he’d ever seen it get in such a state of disarray. “The campus is pretty quiet then. It’d be a good time to visit.” Tony wasn’t in the habit of going home for Christmas anymore. He avoided it when he could, mostly to avoid his dad, but had only promised to return to see Loki. 

Loki went back to tracing the embroidery thread. 

Tony picked up one of the rams, running his fingers through the soft fur. 

“So uh, while I’m here, you want to go grab lunch? I’m starving.” 

Loki glanced up. “Ok,” he decided after a moment. 

“Awesome,” Tony answered, setting the ram down and stretching as he stood. Loki’s eyes followed the motion, one thumb hooking on the belt loop of his frayed black jeans. “I’ll drive,” Tony offered. 

As they left the room and went down the stairs, Thor stopped in the middle of the living room and looked up. Tony recognized the surprise on his face, even as Thor was quick to hide it. “We’re gonna go grab lunch. You want us to bring you anything back?” Tony called down. 

Thor shook his head. “I’m good, thanks!” 

He hovered beside the handrail as Loki and Tony came down, and Tony found himself holding his breath. Thor had a habit of unintentionally setting Loki off. A clap to his arm or one word taken too strongly, and Loki could be heading right back up the stairs. Loki could be prickly at times.

Thor seemed to be careful though. He let them pass, looking back over his shoulder until Tony shot him a look and Thor turned and hurried up the stairs. Loki said nothing. They got in Tony’s sports car and headed to the nearest burger joint. 

For the first half, Tony carried most of the conversation. He told Loki about Rhodey and the antics he got into with Tony. He told Loki about the professors whose lectures he liked, the broken vending machine in the basement of the arts building, and the therapy dog that got walked around campus. Loki’s gaze stayed on him, eyes a little brighter than the dim light before, nodding here and there. 

Slowly, Loki told Tony about the accounting class he was taking, the degree his father believed in and he loathed. He told Tony about the arts club he’d joined, and the painting he’d shown at their annual art fair. He picked at his nails when he was done eating, and just as Tony started to mull over what to say next, Loki said, “I miss our sci-fi nights.” 

It was casual, indifferent almost in tone. Usually Loki’s nails were painted black, but now there was no polish to chip and peel off. “Do you remember the time my mother threw the door open, and we were just watching Red Dwarf?” Loki broke into the first real smile of the day. “I don’t know what she thought she was going to find.” The little quirk in his voice told Tony that Loki knew.

Tony said it anyway. “She thought we were secretly dating,” Tony said. “I think she was shocked you weren’t going to be homecoming king with me.” 

“You made a good king,” Loki said, smiling along. “And your date had a wonderful time. I remember she wore this chartreuse dress and we looked all over town to find you a tie to match.” 

“Maya Hansen,” Tony reminisced. “I wonder whatever happened to that tie.” 

Tony glanced down, his throat tighter. He’d never had the nerve to tell Loki that his mother hadn’t read him wrong. He’d always been a little in love with Loki. Tony had just always assumed that Loki wasn’t into him, and Loki was his best friend. He hadn’t wanted to ruin it. 

But the time away had made him think things over again, and he’d promised himself that he’d tell Loki. Today wasn’t the right day, though. Tony knew it in his gut.

Loki brushed his fingers off on a napkin. “Do you want to grab dessert somewhere? There’s a place close to campus that’s good.” 

Tony perked up. “Yeah! And you know, I don’t think I’ve seen your new campus.” 

Loki’s eyes were a bit owlish. “We can go after, if you’d like.” 

“I would,” Tony said. “Is your painting still up?” 

Loki smiled, but it was a bit derisive. That was familiar in a way that warmed Tony’s chest. “The art show was taken down months ago. They don’t keep it up all year.” 

“That’s a shame,” Tony said. Loki rolled his eyes at him, recognizing the obvious flattery, but it made him smile all the same. 

As Tony got up from the table with Loki, grabbing their trays, he felt like they were in the high school cafeteria together again.

Someday he’d tell Loki how he felt. Someday soon. Even if it was just to be truthful, even if all it ever did was flatter Loki a little, Tony would tell him and hope that they'd stay friends. He'd tell Loki that too, and promised himself that he'd restart their sci-fi nights long-distance.


	30. Exposed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, this chapter is kinkmeme, all explicit sexual content, and includes sex being used as a form of payment with somewhat questionable elements involved so read at your discretion. If it's not your cup of tea, totally fine, next chapter is something totally different. tags: dom/sub elements, praise kink, collaring, masturbation, nipple clamps, voyeurism, characters not being entirely honest, smoking

The moment that Loki had seen the magical contraption in the market place, he’d known he had to find its maker.

Loki was on Alfheim, traveling solo to study magic and generally avoid everyone. He’d seen many wonderful things at the market — phoenix feathers, rare gemstones, enchanted items - but this one was special. 

A small crowd had gathered around a merchant’s tent. “It’s not for sale,” the merchant kept saying, holding the contraption up for everyone to see. It was a set of golden gears, spinning in various directions, projecting an image from the middle. It was playing the man’s memory of his wedding day. 

“How much did it cost you?” One of the onlookers asked. 

The merchant grinned with self-deprecating amusement. “It was worth it for this. That’s all I’ll say.” 

“Deals with Stark are steep,” someone muttered near Loki. “He took half of Melody’s lands for one truth potion. That’s a racket if you ask me.” 

“I guess you can charge whatever you want when you’re that good at magic,” someone answered. 

_Stark_, Loki thought. There was a magic he hadn’t been able to accomplish on his own and dearly wanted to have. If Stark could make the contraption in front of him, perhaps he had the skill to create what Loki could only dream about.

It didn’t take long to track Stark down. He was well known, and his residence wasn’t hidden. Instead, it was a somewhat flashy building on a central street. Stark’s secretary had walked him back to what she called “Tony’s office”, her strawberry blonde ponytail swaying behind her as she walked away.

Loki was left standing in front of a set of gossamer red curtains layered in place of a door. He found the curtains strange, but tried to push that thought away. He knew what he wanted. Loki straightened his collar. He took a long, deep breath. Then he gently pulled the curtain back.

The office was nothing but a floor covered in layer upon layer of blankets and cushions, small tables sprouting up between them as if they’d grown up from the cushions, jars and pots set on top. Everything was a wash of red and gold. In the center laid a man, wearing nothing but a silky red robe that matched the room’s curtains, smoking from a long, slender pipe.

Immediately, Loki noticed that at the center of the man’s chest was a dark blue scar, circular, as though it had been twisted from his chest. He had short, golden brown hair that fell haphazardly about his head in contrast to his perfectly shaped beard.

“Are you going to stand there all day?” 

Loki startled. Golden eyes flashed at him as the man looked up. He blew a soft pink smoke ring at Loki. “I am—” Loki coughed. The smoke smelled incredibly sweet, but boozy too, like a malted liquor. He sucked in a breath, eyes watering. Still, he kept his regal pose, trying not to waver. “I am Prince Loki of Asgard,” he announced. “I have heard speak that you are an inventor of magical contraptions, and I wish to see if you might be able to make something I seek.” 

The man lifted an eyebrow.

Loki wasn’t accustomed to people being unimpressed when they heard Asgard’s name. It put him slightly off balance. He felt he was meant to speak. Loki unclasped his hands, setting them gently at his sides and raising his chin. “I wish for an item that makes me invisible to the all-seeing eyes of Heimdall.” 

Stark’s eyes flickered shut. He took a long drag from his pipe, blowing out a cloud of smoke before opening his golden eyes again. The gaze that found Loki then was uncomfortably intelligent, sending a flare of warning through Loki. This did not seem like a man to be reckoned with. Stark’s eyes drifted up and down, as though sizing Loki up. “You won’t like the price,” he said knowingly. 

Loki balked. This man didn’t know him. “I am a prince of Asgard, the greatest of the realms. If you are able to create such an item, surely I can afford a reasonable price.” 

The man’s eyes fell shut as he took a shorter breath from his pipe, blowing several pink rings in succession as though annoyed. “You don’t even know what my price is.” He turned away from Loki, glancing down at his lacquered red nails. 

“Let’s hear it then,” Loki challenged him. 

The man rolled over more onto his back. “They always think they know,” he muttered to himself, taking a leisurely breath from the pipe. Pink smoke wafted from his mouth as he spoke. “I want to fuck you, little prince, in whatever way I desire, so long as it does not cause you any serious harm or permanent damage, and you do not strike me as—”

“—Pardon me,” Loki started outraged. “Did you just demand sex as payment from a prince of Asgard like some cheap—”

Tony rolled over, setting his elbow against the ground and resting his hand is his palm, holding the pipe up with the other. Where there’d been a relaxed, even playful expression before, was something harsh and unyielding. 

“—You want a device that will make you invisible to Heimdall, the guardian of your realm, who sees all,” Tony said, voice higher, firm, authoritative. 

“You want a device that can hide you from one of the most sophisticated seers that the realms have ever known, and are laying down a flimsy request that would be all too easy for me to shirk and hold you to anyway. Have you demanded a time frame for how long you’ll stay hidden from his gaze? No. I could make it for a heartbeat and be right. But I assume you would want this power ad-infinitum, my poor negotiator prince, and I can give it to you for a price that is letting you off easily, in my opinion.” He smiled to himself. “Not that I feel charitable enough to get you off, at this point.” 

Loki’s outrage had iced over out of sheer uncertainty. “Why—would you want—such a price, when you could demand greater?” The question was skeptical but vulnerable. 

“It’s none of your business what I do with the energy I feed off of, and I am getting a very fair price.” Loki blinked. “I am quite generous and fair,” Tony said, tapping his pipe against a small pot. The ash burned bright white as it fell. 

Loki realized that he didn’t know what kind of creature he was dealing with. Dragon? Fae? Incubus? He certainly wasn’t Asgardian, wasn’t elven, wasn’t even human. Stark’s arrogance chafed at Loki’s pride.

While Loki’s mind was still spinning, Tony spoke again. “Go home, Prince Loki, or back to wherever you are hiding now. Think it over. Don’t come back here unless you’re absolutely certain that you’re willing to pay properly for a Heimdall blindfold.” Tony sat up. “I won’t release you from our deal once it’s begun. Do you understand?” 

Slowly, Loki nodded. This man had insulted him. He was asking an odd price, and Loki was just going off what he’d gleamed from the item in the market to believe in Stark’s abilities. Perhaps Stark wasn’t capable, but Loki could test that. Tony smiled suddenly, waving his hand in dismissal. “Tell Pepper I’m ready on your way out.” 

Loki seethed at the command. He simply inclined his head as a goodbye. But as he passed the woman’s desk, his sense of survival pricked. Stark wasn’t a man to be crossed. “He wishes for you to know he’s ready,” Loki quickly said. 

“Thank you,” she answered, standing. Loki could hear their friendly chatter drifting down the hall as he left the strange place. 

A month passed, and Loki couldn’t get the idea out of his head.

The more he thought on it, the more he wanted it. He’d tried everything, for hundreds of years, and nothing had kept him from Heimdall’s sight.

He knew now that Stark wasn’t bluffing either—thinking himself clever, Loki had asked Heimdall to witness the man’s abode, and Heimdall had answered with confusion that his vision there was clouded. Loki played it off as though he’d suspected there was something strange about Stark and had wanted comfirmation, but it had only convinced him that he needed what Stark was offering. 

He couldn’t figure out what sort of creature Stark was, either. Everyone he asked had a different theory of what Stark was, and eventually Loki decided he’d have to accept not knowing. Perhaps Stark was the only of his kind.

And the more Loki thought about it, tried to imagine what sex with the man might be like, the more he found himself desiring it. The man was alluring, there was no denying that. He was certainly attractive.

Loki turned it over in his head again and again until he decided he didn’t mind fucking Stark at all, and that it was a small price to pay for escaping Heimdall’s sight. 

For escaping Asgard’s sight and harsh rule.

The day Loki returned, Pepper informed him that Tony was busy working and unable to see him. She’d scheduled an appointment for him to return in a week. 

Loki spent that week practically tearing his hair out, restless.

He arrived precisely on time for the appointment, dressed finely, smelling of the rich fragrances of the bath he scoured himself in beforehand. 

Pepper gave him an anticlimactic nod and simply told him he could go back.

Loki’s heart was pounding by the time he reached Stark’s office. The curtains were drawn back with gold ties this time. Loki had nothing to hide behind. Stark looked as though he hadn’t moved since last time.

Stark glanced over at him.

Loki’s gaze lingered on the man’s eyelashes, wondering how they were so thick and heavy around his golden eyes. “I was surprised when Pep told me you made an appointment,” Stark said. He took a drag from his pipe. The smoke was green this time, smelling of the earth. 

“Heimdall can’t see here,” Loki said. 

Stark sat up, giving him a derisive look. “Of course he can’t. Do you think I don’t enjoy my privacy?” He ran a hand through his hair, stretching his torso as he did. “He hasn’t been able to see here since I learned of him. He’s just never thought to look, before you.” Stark paused on the last part, something slightly accusatory there.

Loki’s hands curled at his sides. “I’ve made up my mind,” he said, fire finding its way into his voice. “If your contraption works—”

“—Oh, it’ll work, Loki. Don’t insult me.” Loki paused, unused to being spoken to so. “I’m held to my bargains as much as you are.” Stark set his pipe down. “So if you’re ready to agree, I suggest you cease with the unnecessary suspicion.” 

Loki licked his lips. He’d thought about this. “How do I know when the contraption’s been made? How do I know when you’ll hand it over?” 

Tony drew back a cushion as though he’d been expecting that. He drew out a box and snapped open the lid. Inside was a golden pocket watch. “As long as it’s running, the spell will work. If you pull the pin, Heimdall will be able to see you again, wherever you are.” He snapped the lid shut. “Look at me, kindly thinking of a safety guard that a wayward, trouble-seeking prince such as yourself might need.” 

He watched it for a moment, as if admiring his own handiwork. “I’ll give it to you at the end of today, once you’ve paid.” 

The box vanished in Tony’s hand. His smile turned sharp. “Just in case you were thinking of taking it and running.” 

“I wasn’t,” Loki lied. He’d known it was foolish, stupid. But the idea to simply teleport away with it had been there. 

“Now,” Tony said, sitting up and reaching for the belt on his robe. “Are we done with the foreplay or have you changed your mind? Last chance,” he warned.

“I’m staying,” Loki said. 

“Then strip.” 

Loki wavered for a moment. His balance in his boots was awkward on the cushions as he stepped into the plush room, reaching for the pulls on the curtains. “Leave it,” Stark warned. 

“But Pepper—”

“—Has seen far worse, and I don’t want the room getting stuffy.” 

Loki rolled his eyes, reaching down for a lace on his boot. He could feel Stark’s eyes on him as he undid them. He couldn’t bring himself to glance up. He also couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge that he felt his cock stir under that gaze. 

Time seemed to drag as Loki undressed. His fingers shook with anticipation as he unbuttoned his leathers, peeled off his shirt, set aside his belt of daggers. He held his breath as he drew off his pants. Stark didn’t say a word as Loki silently drew off socks and underwear, tossing them beside his vambraces on the ground. 

When Loki dared to look up, Stark was nude, the robe rumbled along the dozen other blankets of the same shade. He was sitting up but leaning against the pillows, his legs spread out with plenty of space between. One hand was hidden beneath a pillow, but Loki didn’t notice. He was too focused on the cool air against his skin, how exposed the narrow curve of his ass felt, knowing Pepper was right down the hall. The thrill of that, and the shameful knowledge that was a thrill a prince shouldn't have.

“Come here,” Stark instructed. 

Loki drew in a breath. He tried not to be too obvious about looking at Stark’s cock, or the surprise of embarrassment he felt at realizing it was entirely soft, even after seeing him strip bare. Loki knelt between Stark’s open legs. 

He stared at the golden embroidery on the padded floor, seeing Stark’s arms draw towards him around from the corners of his eyes. Then a tightness at his throat and he realized belatedly the smell of leather, a sharp click. As he opened his mouth to protest, Stark cut in sharply, “After that petulant display? You think I wouldn’t? If you knew where the damn thing was you’d take it and run.” Two fingers pressed between Loki’s neck and the collar, checking the fit. His cheeks burned red. 

Stark had set no permanent damage as the only limit, but Loki hadn’t taken it seriously. He’d simply assumed that Stark would act with the same careful, self-preserving approach Asgardians did when they slept with their prince. 

Loki had hoped for more. He’d been curious about what Stark would do. But it was still a surprise.

Stark’s hand ran down his side, soothing but patronizing. “I’m running the show here,” he said. A leash snapped. When had the leash appeared? Stark pulled Loki’s back against his chest, ignoring the indignant huff he made as his muscles coiled tight. “You’ve never had anyone manhandle you like this, have you?” He asked, his voice surprisingly soft. 

“No one’s dared,” Loki whispered back.

“Mm. Well, you weren’t exactly keen on laying down rules about this, were you, Loki?” 

“You said as you pleased.” 

Tony bent down and kissed his shoulder. “And you agreed?” 

Loki cheeks burned. Had Stark known that he’d wanted to just—give Stark reign and see what he’d do with it? Loki couldn’t ask to submit. He was a prince. It was Asgard. It wasn’t allowed. 

But if Stark demanded it as a price, well, Loki was only paying it then, wasn’t he? He couldn’t be blamed.

Stark’s hand at his side again, soothing. “Tell me now, what you won’t allow.” 

Loki’s eyes fell shut. “May I instead tell you if it’s too much?”

He felt Stark’s smile against his skin. Loki couldn’t believe that it was fondness. He was too embarrassed to think it was amusement. “Of course. Simply say red, hmm? That’s easy enough to remember in this decor.” His fingers felt into the soft spaces between Loki’s ribs. “You’re going to be good for me, aren’t you?” 

Loki was trying to give in, but despite his curiosity to, it wasn’t easy. Annoyance flared through him. “I’m not a pet,” he spat. 

“Obviously,” Stark answered. Loki flinched at the disappointment in his voice, then felt angry all over again. One arm wrapped securely around Loki’s belly as another dug into the cushions and drew out a box. 

Loki frowned at the pair of delicate clamps laid on velvet inside. 

He didn’t fully understand what they were for as Stark lifted the first one, its jaws prying open. “I made these myself,” Stark said. Loki pressed back against him as he fastened the first clip to his nipple. “They won’t fall off on their own.” 

Loki didn’t care about that. What he cared about was the decoration he’d ignored at the bottom of the clamp. It wasn’t a decoration at all. It was a bell. 

Stark dragged the next one up his torso, tracing circles around Loki’s nipple. “Hurry up already—”

“—Quiet,” Stark demanded, tugging the leash. Loki rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. Stark tugged on the clamp that was already attached. Loki gasped. “That’s what I’d prefer to hear,” he said, swiftly attaching the other. 

He flicked it, causing it to jingle. Loki’s cheeks flushed dark red with embarrassment. “I don’t understand what you get out of this,” he said haughtily, ignoring the way his own cock was rising. “What are you anyway? If you feed on sexual energy then just—”

Stark’s hand grasped his cock. “I’ve told you it’s none of your business what I do with the energy I feed off of.” Loki stilled. The grip on his cock was too tight, a warning. “If you think you’re going to add me to your list of magical creatures, you’re wrong, Harry.” 

Loki turned his head slightly in confusion. “My name is Loki.” 

Stark sighed. “I know what your name is, Loki.” He stroked Loki’s cock, causing a shiver to shoot down Loki’s spine and his eyelids to flutter.

Stark shoved him forwards onto the cushions then, and Loki felt his cheeks burn as he realized he was in fact, on all fours like an animal. Stark laughed, as if he knew, then pressed at Loki’s shoulder blades. “Down.” 

“I—”

“—I’m being wonderfully patient with you, dear prince, but you test me.” 

Loki lowered his arms then, hiding his face against the cushions.

He tried not to moan when Stark’s hands drew his cheeks apart, the leather of the held belt grazing one. He’d spent an embarrassing amount of time thinking about this part, wanting it. He’d never been able to have this, not on Asgard. Stark’s finger made an experimental circle, not pushing in. 

Then he sighed to himself, and Loki found himself wondering if he was disappointing. Only for Stark to pat him and say, “You’re gorgeous, I just don’t feel like taking the time with lube, that’s all.” Loki tensed. “I will, though,” Stark said, laughing. He sounded kind, then. 

Loki breathed in the warm, spiced scent of the sheets and squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t help the moan that escaped as Stark’s finger sunk into him, slick and cold at first. Loki was lost in the sensation embarrassingly fast. It was different from his own fingers, and Stark’s were clearly experienced, easily finding a bundle of sensation that had Loki grasping at the sheets. 

He was dazed when Tony guided him to sit up, blinking in the light. He wasn’t expecting to feel Stark’s cock as he was pulled into his lap. or for the tight heat of him barely yielding to it. A guttural sound fell from his lips. Stark shifted his lap, pulling Loki closer to his chest. Loki’s head fell back against him, eyes shut. 

“Who would’ve known this would do so much for you, hmm?” Stark asked, as if he very much knew. Loki didn’t want to move. There was a little pain involved, but nothing that made the novelty of Stark’s thick cock inside of him worth leaving. Stark flicked one of the bells. 

Loki didn’t know if he was supposed to answer. He was thinking of the others he’d done this to. Is this how they’d felt?  
It was a crime that he’d never been able to experience it himself.

Stark’s hand caressed down his side. “Lovely, aren’t you?” Stark murmured, flicking a bell again. Loki didn’t want to move.

He wanted to stay like this, hyper aware of everything Stark was doing to him. 

Stark’s fingers softly brushed over his cock, and the feather-light touch made Loki heave out a breath. He’d had no idea he could want something so much.

Stark’s hand grazed his hips, up his stomach, teasing the bell again. Loki’s eyes stayed shut, his mind lost in the sensation. Stark’s hand drifted against his cock and Loki thought he’d never felt such pressure in his cock to come in his life, even though he knew he wasn’t anywhere close. 

Loki barely made out the sound of ruffling paper, ignored it until Stark spoke in his usual voice, “The shipment’s a little late for this time of year, don’t you think?” 

“There’s been more ice in the sea than usual,” Pepper answered, pulling another sheet from the stack. 

Loki froze. Stark was signing papers, as if Loki wasn’t bare, in his lap, Stark’s cock inside of him. 

Stark’s eyes skimmed the next page that was held out to him. “Tell them they can take this shipment back. I want the ore, but I won’t take the ruby, not at that quality.” 

“I figured you’d say that. He said he’s got emerald on the truck if you’d like.” 

“Eh, it’s not worth taking a look at right now. I don’t want to make you wait, do I?” Tony asked, brushing his fingers through the trail of hair on Loki’s stomach. Loki couldn’t answer. “Does he have any vibranium, though? I need like, two ounces to finish up a project.” 

“I can ask when I go back out,” Pepper said, pulling out another paper. Stark read this one as well before signing it.

Loki couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just business as usual for them. That _he_ was business as usual. He knew that insult shouldn’t make him feel warm and hazy, but it did. “I’ll be right back,” Pepper said. 

Loki dared to catch a glimpse of her ponytail as she walked away, shoes clicking against the floor. 

“I’m lucky he showed up at all this week,” Stark said. “I need most of that shipment to finish projects.” They were quiet for a moment. “Lucky I had enough for yours, though, huh?” 

Loki blinked through the lustful fog. “You—” He licked his lips. “Knew I’d come back.” 

“Yeah,” Stark said, like it was nothing. “You made an appointment,” he reminded Loki.

“How’d you know I’d go through with this? Why make it ahead of time—” 

Stark grasped his cock and Loki hissed, bucking into the touch only to moan as it dragged Stark’s thick cock inside him. He settled back against Stark’s lap, drawing in a deep breath. 

“He has it,” Pepper announced. “He can give you two or ten ounces, if you want all of it.” She didn’t even glance down at Loki. 

“Let’s do all of it,” Tony said. “That’s easier.”

She gave Tony something else to sign before stepping out of the room, carefully avoiding stepping on Loki’s pile of clothes. “Do you want this closed or open?” She asked, gesturing to the curtain.

“There shouldn’t be any other shipments today,” Tony said. “You can close it.” 

Loki was silent for a moment, unsure of what he felt, but certain he was right. “You knew the shipment was coming. You left it open so—”

“—Pepper would know she could come in without knocking and I wouldn’t miss the shipment? Yes.” 

“How often do you do this?!”

“Not often enough,” Stark answered, a heat in his voice that made Loki shiver. “But you’re still precious. Don’t worry, beautiful.” 

Loki huffed, twisting to look back over his shoulder with a glare. Stark stared at him for a moment with those unnerving golden eyes. Loki didn’t particularly like to hold his gaze. He focused on Stark’s eyelashes instead, wondering what a being so powerful got out of such a mundane, carnal act. It was almost pathetic. Loki gasped and shuffled forward when Stark thrust into him, sharp and uncomfortable. “Brat,” Stark accused. 

“How so,” Loki demanded. 

Stark let out a hissy sigh. He reached for his pipe and took a long drag from it. A wave of irritation swept through Loki. Was that pipe more interesting than him? Truly? 

Stark’s hand on the leash went lax, and Loki flinched as it fell loosely against his skin. 

He looked back. Stark’s eyes were closed. He was blowing smoke rings from his mouth again. His head was titled back, his expression carefree, like he had all the time in the world. Like a prince of Asgard wasn’t in his lap, wearing his adornments, in a pile of cushions that was very much Stark’s own throne. It vexed Loki. 

Annoyed, Loki used the odd angle to press his lips to Stark’s jaw, demanding attention. He rolled his hips as he did, briefly stunned at how it overwhelmed him again. Stark wasn’t small. 

Stark simply huffed out a small puff of smoke that Loki blinked from his eyes. It settled on Loki’s skin with its overbearing woodland smell. Loki glanced down at the lax leash. 

He groaned in spite of himself as he drew out of Starks’ lap, the head of his cock catching his rim. Loki brushed the thought away, turning around instead and crawling into Stark’s lap, drawing a hand into his hair. He pulled Stark in for a kiss, dragging his teeth over Stark’s bottom lip. Stark let Loki’s tongue explore his mouth freely, the lemongrass taste there making Loki’s nose wrinkle. The arm holding his pipe stayed extended, carefully balancing it despite Loki’s seeking arms around him.

Loki was gasping for air when he pulled back. 

Stark’s gaze wasn’t on him, but on the damn pipe. He held it precariously over the pot he’d set it on before. Loki wanted Stark to look at him. “Are,” Stark said, tapping it, “you going to be good now, or are you going to continue being a brat that both spurns and craves my attention?” 

Loki swallowed. Was he that obvious?

Still, it chafed to simply agree. Loki bit his lip. It was true that he wanted the gift of hiding from Heimdall. Badly enough to do far worse. But what he wanted out of this wasn’t just the contraption — he wanted what he couldn’t have. He wanted to be fucked by Stark, as the man had so eloquently put it.

And Loki doubted the offer would come again. 

“I’ll—be good,” Loki answered, as though he was doing Stark a favor. 

Stark didn’t seem impressed. He set the pipe down, a small victory, then grabbed Loki’s hips. He brushed his thumbs over the juts of bone. It was more intimate than Loki was used to. He shivered. “That’s better, gumdrop.” 

Loki pursed his lips at the odd endearment. 

“Turn around,” Stark ordered. 

Loki’s heart pounded as he did. Stark’s hands were soft where there weren’t calluses. Loki gasped as Stark breached him again. He wasn’t too gentle or patient, but once he was fully sheathed he let Loki catch his breath. Stark combed Loki’s hair back behind his ear. 

Stark set a slow, shallow rhythm, Loki’s hands settling over the arm that was around his waist. 

“Wonderful,” Stark praised him. “You’re doing so well, precious.” Loki’s shoulders slumped. He wasn’t sure why Stark’s words meant anything, but they did. “You know you’re gorgeous,” Stark said, stroking his cock once before letting go. His hand set on Loki’s thigh instead. “So I’ll allow you some pride. You don’t need to hear me tell you you’re tall, dark, and handsome, even though it’s true.” 

The sensation of Stark inside him didn’t get less intense. If anything, it was getting more as lust began clouding Loki’s mind again. “That’s good,” Stark said. Loki didn’t want to admit it, but he really liked Stark saying so. “Lovely.” 

Loki’s eyes fell shut. His grip on Stark’s arm lessened. 

“There we are.” 

Loki wanted to say something scathing, but the heat pooling inside him made him let it go. He clenched around Stark’s cock, just to remind himself that Stark was there. 

Loki wasn’t sure when Stark picked up speed. It was just that suddenly he heard the bells really ringing, instead of the soft, tiny clinks of before. Loki was panting, mentally begging Stark to let him come. He wouldn’t say it out loud, couldn’t beg like that, but in his mind, he pleaded desperately: _Please, please, Stark, let me come—_

_Not yet, sweet cheeks. _

Loki’s eyes flew open. Stark’s voice, in his head. Stark laughed, a low rumble, pressing his lips to Loki’s cool shoulder. _Telepathy’s just one of my many tricks._

Loki blinked, still gasping. _How fortunate then I know how to block that trick._ He slammed Stark out of his mind. Stark laughed behind him, against him, inside of him. Loki found himself smiling too, like they’d just played some grand game together. 

“A trickster,” Loki muttered, a near-whisper. Stark hummed. “Usually people use that title for me.” 

“So I’ve heard.” 

Stark chose that moment to set a brutal pace again, and in moments he was coming with a voice that broke in an erotic moan that burned itself into Loki’s mind. Stark took several deep breaths before carefully easing Loki out of his lap. 

Loki’s knees ached as he kneeled on the cushions, suddenly bereft now that Stark wasn’t in him. “Don’t look so glum,” Stark said, grabbing his pipe again. 

“You’re going to end it like that—” Loki started accusing. 

“No,” Stark said, grasping the leash again. He grinned. “You’re going to get yourself off while I watch.” 

Heat swept through Loki. He’d never let anyone watch him before.

But as something slick snuck down his skin, he thought he’d like to try. 

The first stroke was awkward, but then he heard Stark’s appreciative gasp. “That’s it, gorgeous.” Loki’s hand moved faster, the sound echoing in the room. “Eyes here, beautiful.” 

Loki glanced up, felt himself come, felt a shock of magic as he looked into Tony’s golden eyes. It didn’t feel draining, didn’t feel wrong. Instead, Loki felt like light was pooling inside of him, warm, and bright, and comforting. 

“What was that?” He managed, looking down at his hand. 

“How many times do I have to ask you not to worry about what I do with that energy, hmm?” Stark’s voice was kidding, this time, even though he was serious. 

Loki wiped sweat from his brow. “Can’t hurt to ask, I suppose.” 

Stark breathed out a laugh. He twirled the pipe in his fingers. “Now I saw there were at least fifteen other things in that head of yours you wanted to try. Which of them were you serious about? Because I’m happy to do all of them.” 

Loki found himself smiling back at Stark. The man’s smile was charming. “At least six others.” 

Loki left five hours later, certain he’d never be able to come again. He didn’t know how thoroughly worked over he could be. 

But he’d come to feel that Tony was a friend in that time. They’d been laughing and trading little quips by the end. And Tony’d offered to let Loki come back after giving him the contraption — for enjoying sex only, not to create anything else — and Loki found himself sincere when he promised to return sometime.


	31. Paprika and Eggs

Tony carried two plates from the hotel’s breakfast bar, weaving between tables in a fine suit that Tony somehow, charmingly, made seem casual. Loki watched him approach from above a free newspaper. A lazy smile spread across his face. 

He wished he could pull off the same look in his own suit. He adored the way Tony’s soft brown hair stuck out in haphazard directions and the bright light in his eyes. They’d hardly been awake and hour and already Tony was so chipper. Just because it was their first weekend alone together in months.

“They were out of the toast you like,” Tony said somewhat breathlessly, setting Loki’s plate down before his own. 

Loki slowly folded up the paper. “What’s—why are there red flecks on my eggs?” 

Tony looked up from where he was about to stick a fork into a massive pile of pancakes soaking with syrup. “That’s paprika and eggs,” Tony said. “Trust me, you’ll like it. Just eat.” Tony took his own advice, shoving a mouthful in. 

Loki’s skepticism didn’t fade as he picked up the deviled egg to take a bite out of it. Tony watched, amused, then vindicated the moment he could tell Loki liked it. He didn’t rub it in today, if only because he didn’t want to tempt Loki into getting him back in some creative way later.

Loki took the second egg with a fond glance in Tony’s direction. Tony was remarkably good at knowing what he would like. He hadn’t even asked Loki what he wanted. He’d just told Loki to grab the coffee for them and a table so that he could get their plates.

As Loki swallowed, his gaze stuck back on Tony without any subtlety. Tony was happily eating, his own focus on pushing a forkful of pancake through a puddle of syrup. Loki’s chest stirred. 

The setting was simple. An above average hotel, but nothing particularly fancy aside from their own attire. A Midgardian breakfast, an ordinary day of leisurely activities ahead. But Loki found himself excited along with Tony. 

“Did you ever think our lives would turn out like this?” Loki asked, softer than usually spoke. He traced his finger over his fork handle on the table. “I didn’t think I could ever be so content.” 

Tony looked up. His eyes narrowed. “Are we having a moment?” He asked, playful humor beneath the teasing in his voice. “After the whole lecture this morning about me snoring like a Bilgesnipe last night?” 

“You did,” Loki insisted. “And I _was_ having a moment,” Loki answered. “What a shame for you that it’s gone now. I was going to do such wicked things to you.” 

“You’ll do them anyway,” Tony said with absolutely certainty, the cockiness in his expression sending a flare of desire through Loki. 

He couldn’t let Tony have that one, though. “So sure of yourself, are you, Stark?” 

“It’s Stark, now?” Tony complained, though there was amusement dancing in both of them. “Maybe go back to that part from earlier when you were having a moment remembering how awesome I am.” 

“I regret getting you coffee.” 

“Eat your damn eggs.”

The two shot each other glares before returning to their breakfast, although Tony’s foot nudged against Loki’s not a moment later, making Loki break into a lopsided grin. 

He nudged Tony back, their feet settling against each other beneath the table. 

“There’s a jeweler right by the movie theater that I want to check out,” Tony said. “Do you mind if we leave a few minutes earlier so I can look around?” 

“Not at all,” Loki answered, sipping his coffee. 

Loki returned to eating his breakfast, chest warm, feeling as though he’d gotten away with something to be with Tony and so content in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! This is the end of this prompt collection. I’d love to hear what you thought of this chapter, but also if there were any chapters that you’d like to have a little more of. I’d love to know which chapters were your most memorable or favorite. I’m super curious what kind of story vibe you’re hoping for when you read something by me. Thank you as always for reading!


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